New Mexico state leaders say collaboration has been key in the state’s turn toward renewable energy.
Senate President Pro Tempore Mimi Stewart and Sara Propst, cabinet secretary for the New Mexico Energy, Minerals & Natural Resources Department, discussed sustainability priorities, challenges and lessons learned during a session presented by the CSG Sustainability Policy Academy. The panel was moderated by John DiAngelis, energy manager at Meta (formerly Facebook), a CSG Associate.
One of New Mexico’s recent sustainability achievements, the Energy Transition Act, passed in 2019. The ETA sets a statewide renewable energy standard of 50% by 2030 for New Mexico investor-owned utilities and rural electric cooperatives, and a goal of 80% by 2040, in addition to setting zero-carbon resources standards for investor-owned utilities by 2045 and rural electric cooperatives by 2050. The ETA is a move to transition New Mexico away toward clean energy and away from coal. The law also funds job training programs for workers impacted by coal power plant closures.
“Sitting in the room with utilities and the environmental groups and the tribes was amazing, and it took a whole year,” Stewart said. “And then, with the new governor and our new secretary, that’s what really pushed it over the top. We have learned to work in collaboration in New Mexico. It’s the only way our issues will move forward.”
Probst noted some of the ways New Mexico is focusing on climate resilience in addition to mitigating the effect of climate change.
“The forestry division, in particular, has been focused on resilience,” she said. “We have scarce water resources, we are prone to drought and wildfires. […] The legislature and governor passed a forest and watershed restoration act a couple of years ago that my department is busy implementing. It has, for the first time, a little bit of dedicated funding we can count on every year for projects like forest thinning projects that help with the resilience of our forests around the state and protect our watersheds.”
Other recent sustainability accomplishments in New Mexico have included a solar development tax credit and a sustainable economy task force focused on diversifying New Mexico’s economy.
“We are an oil and gas state,” Stewart said. “We need to move away and diversify, and we are all focused on how to do that.”
The private sector has an important role to play in driving sustainability, Stewart said, praising Meta’s stance toward energy usage.
“What we really need is more businesses like Facebook, aka Meta, who when they moved to New Mexico said, ‘We want to set up shop there, but only if all of our electricity is from renewable sources,’” Stewart said. “It was a game changer for us.”
