Governor Richardson, NRDC Praise NM PRC for Adopting New Energy Efficiency Rules

Governor Bill Richardson yesterday applauded the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (PRC) for adopting new energy efficiency rules that incentivize electric utilities to implement energy efficiency programs.

“Tackling climate change head-on is one of my top priorities,” said Governor Richardson in a statement released by his office. “Encouraging efficiency is one way to achieve that and I’m pleased that the PRC adopted rules for electric utilities to offer more energy efficiency programs to their customers to save money and energy.”

The rules adopted yesterday by Public Regulation Commission advance the state’s energy efficiency law adopted in 2007 to encourage utilities’ investments in energy efficiency programs.

The Natural Resources Defense Council also released a statement praising the PRC, saying the new energy efficiency rules will reduce pollution and save customers money on their energy bills. The NRDC also explained that the rules will encourage the state’s electric utilities to look to low-cost energy efficiency programs before they build far more costly power plants to meet the state’s energy needs.

“By adopting these new rules, the PRC has ensured that electric utilities will bring energy savings opportunities to many more of their customers,” said Thomas Singer, Senior Policy Analyst with the Natural Resources Defense Council in Santa Fe. “We applaud the leadership of the Commission’s former Chairman Sandy Jones and current Chairman David King for bringing about this important change to the state’s energy policy.”

The Commission’s action further implements the state’s energy efficiency law, enacted by the Legislature and signed by Governor Richardson in 2007, designed to spur more utility investment in energy efficiency programs. By saving significant amounts of energy, the new rules will help utilities avoid large capital expenditures on power plants and transmission lines over time, resulting in larger savings for customers. Increased efficiency investment could mean over $400 million in customer savings and almost 2 million metric tons of avoided CO2 emissions over the next 20 years, according to PNM’s most recent long term plan.

“By creating a system that is good for customers’ checkbooks and utilities’ bottom line, the Commission has fundamentally revamped the state’s energy policy,” remarked Singer. “New Mexico is showing the country that energy efficiency can be good for business.”

It's well known that Governor Richardson has championed clean energy through one of the nation's most ambitious and far-sighted agendas. His administration has made New Mexico the clean energy state by taking large steps to do the right thing for the environment -- steps that are good for the state’s economy too. The Governor's office listed some of his policy accomplishments in the area of clean energy:

· Requiring utilities to produce energy from renewable resources: to generate 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2015 and 20 percent by 2020;

· Creating the country’s first renewable energy transmission authority: to deliver New Mexico’s bountiful wind and solar energy to other states;

· Adopting strong new energy efficiency legislation requiring utilities to achieve a 10 percent greater efficiency by 2020, and encouraging efficiency elsewhere by retrofitting existing buildings and investing in new technologies;

· Changing out every incandescent traffic light bulb in the state to operate on LED bulbs, saving energy and dollars for local governments and the New Mexico Department of Transportation, and reducing carbon emissions;

· Investing approximately $40 million of federal stimulus funding in dozens of clean energy projects throughout New Mexico;

· Commissioning an energy efficiency potentials study so that every utility in New Mexico will have a game plan for maximizing investments in energy efficiency; and

· Issuing $20 million in bonds to pay for clean energy upgrades in K-12 schools, colleges, and state agency buildings.