April 2, 2021
New Mexico’s largest electric utility is planning to reduce its baseload power while increasing power generated by renewable sources and possibly adding natural gas generation with turbines capable of producing power from hydrogen.
Baseload generation provides a relatively steady supply of power. Currently, Public Service Company of New Mexico, or PNM, relies on coal-fired power plants and a nuclear generating station to provide baseload power.
The company filed a 2020 integrated resource plan with the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission in January and is awaiting approval includes exiting coal in 2024 and reducing its capacity in Palo Verde Generating Station, which provides nuclear power.
PNM Resources moves forward with plans to exit coal-fired New Mexico plant dailyenergyinsider.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailyenergyinsider.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
AZTEC Starting in 2023, one of the two remaining units at the Four Corners Power Plant will only operate from June to October when customer demand is the highest in the southwest.
Arizona Public Service Company announced this change in a press release on March 12. The other unit will continue generating electricity year-round.
The press release states that moving to seasonal operations will make the power plant a more flexible resource and support the increase in clean energy. It states that this will compensate for the intermittent output of renewable resources.
The change comes through an agreement between the plant owners, APS, Public Service Company of New Mexico, Navajo Transitional Energy Company and Tucson Electric Power.
AZTEC A house memorial focused on infrastructure investment for Native American communities received unanimous support from the House State Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee.
The house memorial, known as Native American Infrastructure Investment, would encourage New Mexico’s congressional delegation to introduce legislation that would assist the Bureau of Indian Affairs with efforts like expanding infrastructure accessibility, reducing poverty rates, increasing economic opportunities and improving educational access for Native American communities in the state.
If passed, copies of the memorial will be sent to the delegation as well as members of the U.S. Congress, the secretary of the Department of the Interior, the BIA director as well as the Navajo Nation president and council and the 23 Native American nations, tribes and pueblos in New Mexico.