OPINION: Clean energy is helping New Mexicans, not hurting them

On the morning of Sept. 15, I turned my lights on, brewed my coffee and got ready for my day. My energy was coming from New Mexico’s largest energy provider, Public Service Company of New Mexico, and this snapshot of my clean-energy-powered morning isn’t an anomaly. It’s the reality of the clean energy future that New Mexico is building.

In a Journal op-ed, Larry Behrens claims that since the passage of the 2019 Energy Transition Act, New Mexico’s promise of a green energy future has failed hardworking New Mexicans. He claims that these clean energy efforts have negatively impacted our economy, raised prices and failed to secure energy independence for future generations.

This could not be further from the truth.

New Mexico’s transition to clean energy is paying off for New Mexicans. New Mexico is producing more clean energy than most of the country. New Mexicans pay less for that energy than others around the country do. Plus, clean energy jobs in our state are growing faster than many other sectors.

First, PNM is taking carbon-free energy seriously. The company produces more than 70% carbon-free electricity, is on track to produce 73% carbon-free electricity in 2026, and plans to be 100% carbon-free by 2040. This is compared to Edison Electric Institute’s reports that just 42% of all U.S. power generation comes from carbon-free sources, putting PNM well above the average by almost 30 percentage points.

It costs less, too — not more, as Behrens claims. In New Mexico, the average rate of energy for residential is below the national average, and industrial customers enjoy some of the lowest rate of energy in the U.S., which supports economic development. The facts and savings speak for themselves.

Everyone knows that energy prices around the country are rising, making it harder for people to get by. But it’s the Trump administration’s war on clean energy that is taking the cheapest electricity off of the grid and raising electricity bills.

Building a clean energy future leads to lower energy prices, helps our economy and provides real careers to members of our community. PNM alone employs about 1,700 workers across its service areas in New Mexico and Texas. Yet those aren’t the only clean energy jobs. According to E2 and the Renewable Energy Industry Association of New Mexico, there are over 14,000 clean energy jobs in New Mexico, a number that is growing every single year. In 2023, the latest year for which data are available, the clean energy workforce added 770 new workers, a growth of over 6% — three times faster than the rate at which New Mexico’s overall employment grew, a rate of 2.3%.

The truth is that it’s not our clean energy future that’s harming New Mexicans. Instead, it’s our reliance on dirty fossil fuels.

We know that fossil-fuel emissions are causing climate change, making natural disasters more common. Once-in-a-generation floods are happening more than once in a lifetime. Wildfires are larger, hotter and more common, and recovery is more expensive than ever before. Our reliance on fossil fuels and messages like Behrens’ op-ed that advocate for more of the same are the reasons that climate change itself is now a substantial tax on every New Mexican who owns a home.

For example, nearly a quarter of households in New Mexico do not have homeowners insurance. In some cases, New Mexicans can’t even afford to renew their home insurance because their rates rose so quickly. This is more than anecdotal: According to the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance, between 2020 and 2023, the average New Mexico insurance premium rose by 16%. Depending on where you live, that number could be much higher: New Mexicans in Hidalgo, Roosevelt and Curry counties saw increases ranging between 41% and 47%.

There are even reports of companies not renewing insurance. An analysis by the Federal Office of Insurance showed that after 2022’s devastating wildfire season, insurance companies chose not to renew policyholders’ insurance at a higher rate than the national average in 152 of the 200 counties studied – a rate of almost 80%.

In fact, across the United States, New Mexico has the highest rate of uninsured homes. This adds yet another barrier to home ownership and imposes unacceptable hardships on working families, seniors and those just beginning their homeownership journey.

If we choose to exclusively produce energy through fossil fuels, New Mexicans will suffer the consequences. But if we continue down the path of producing clean energy, we will build more stable futures while supporting New Mexico’s economy, lowering prices, and providing hardworking New Mexicans with valuable and reliable jobs.