State commissioners OK PNM’s energy-efficiency programs

From LED lighting replacements to old fridge recycling, the Public Service Company of New Mexico recently received state approval to continue offering rebates and discounts for New Mexicans to use energy-efficient tools.

The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission on Thursday approved PNM’s 2024 Electric Energy Efficiency and Load Management Program plan, which allows the utility to continue 10 energy programs aimed at encouraging efficient energy use.

It comes with about a 50-cent billing surcharge every month for three years for the average residential customer using 600 kWh per month.

PNM is targeting different programs at different people, including residential and commercial customers as well as homebuilders, contractors and equipment distributors. It’s a way to ensure energy-efficient supplies are available on the market and to install, and affordable for New Mexicans and businesses to use.

These programs help PNM adhere to the state’s Efficient Use of Energy Act, which requires the utility to achieve cumulative energy savings of 395 GWH, or 5% of 2020 retail sales, by 2025, according to PNM. The utility reported annual savings of 203 GWH in 2021 and 2022.

The plan for 2024-2026, which will cost around $35 million every year, will result in 83 GW of demand reductions annually, according to Southwest Energy Efficiency Project. About 11% of PNM’s program spending is reserved for low-income communities, according to the PRC final order.

SWEEP Senior Program Manager Michael Kenney said in a statement PNM customers will be well-positioned to receive thousands of dollars to adopt efficient energy technology, also taking into account federal rebates.

“(PNM’s plan) delivers a multitude of benefits to customers, especially low-income households, and works to reduce greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change,” he said.

Among the 10 approved energy programs, PNM got the commission’s approval to start an “all-electric home pilot” as part of the utility’s ongoing New Home Construction Program. It’s an effort that would offer incentives for all-electric, new single-family residential construction, according to the PRC.

Some of the other programs include initiatives to weatherize low-income households, reduce electricity during peak hours, lessen energy waste through operational and facility changes, and deliver energy consumption reports with comparisons to similar households to customers.

The commission adjusted some of the programs’ workings, like rebate levels or reporting requirements.

It didn’t take long for commissioners to decide on approving the programs. The more complicated matter, and what took up the bulk of the state regulators’ discussion in their open meeting last week, revolved around a past PRC order for PNM to seek “demand response” resources.

Demand response programs can help utilities balance out the power grid, encouraging customers to avoid using as much electricity during peak hours.

In 2021, the PRC asked PNM to seek out more demand response resources following the shutdown of the San Juan Generating Station, a massive coal-fired plant in northwestern New Mexico that fully closed in 2022. But environmental and consumer advocates debated in this energy-efficiency and load management case if the utility actually followed that order.

The commission’s recommended decision chalked PNM’s actions, or lack thereof, up to imprecise language from the PRC’s 2021 order. Last week, the commission decided to require that PNM propose how it plans to seek demand response resources in its integrated resource plan, a case still ongoing before the PRC.

Once the commission approves the integrated resource plan, PNM will have five months to issue a request for proposals on demand response resources.