windA 100-megawatt wind farm near Willard, N.M., could become the first beneficiary of the state’s push into the world of renewable energy.

The New Mexico Renewable Energy Transmission Authority (RETA) on Wednesday took a first step toward issuing up to $85 million in bonds to help pay a transmission line upgrade to help High Lonesome Mesa, a 40-turbine wind farm that began operation this summer.

If the proposed bond issue occurs in the next couple of months as state officials hope, it would represent the first deal for the authority, which was created in 2007 to back renewable energy projects in New Mexico.

“This is a big deal,” said Jeremy Turner, the authority’s executive director.

There are only half a dozen other states with authorities similar to New Mexico’s, Turner said. One of them, Wyoming, has issued bonds, which would make this move by RETA the second such issue by a transmission authority in the country if it occurs, Turner said.

Authority board members echoed Turner’s sentiments Wednesday.

“We want this to be a stepping stone for a lot more for the state of New Mexico,” said authority chairman Bob Busch.

Added board member and deputy state treasurer Mark Valdes: “It’s tough to do the first deal. This was done very well.”

The money from the proposed bond issue would help Edison Mission Energy, which owns the wind farm, to upgrade a transmission line up from Willard, a town about 75 miles southeast of Albuquerque, to Belen for increased capacity and reliability, Turner said.

The board’s action Wednesday is a first step in the authority issuing bonds for Edison Mission Energy, which owns the wind farm, but it does not commit the board to issuing the bonds, staff told authority board members.

Edison Mission has a contract with an Arizona power company to provide electricity generated by the wind farm. The state is eager to attract more renewable energy companies who could produce clean energy here and supply it beyond the state.

The board got a briefing on the project from several presenters on Edison Mission’s financial health, including its ability to repay dividends on the bonds.

If New Mexico pulls this off, this would be great for Edison Mission but also for the state because it would send a message that New Mexico is willing to back this kind of renewable energy, said Lee White, executive vice president of George K. Baum & Co., an investment-banking firm hired by the authority to vet Edison Mission.

The Richardson administration successfully pushed for creation of the Renewable Energy Transmission Authority in 2007 as a way to develop an industry focused on power generation from renewable sources like wind and solar.

The quasi-government authority was envisioned as a tool the state could use to plan, finance, build and operate electric transmission lines and power storage facilities.

In addition to giving the state a way to plug gaps in New Mexico’s power grid, it’s also viewed as a tool to tap into regional transmission system that could move electricity from New Mexico — like, say from a wind farm — to areas increasingly in need of more power markets, like Southern California.