I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
Four utilities that provide the majority of New Mexico’s electricity issued a joint request yesterday for proposals from solar developers to build the first ever large-scale, commercial solar generating plant in New Mexico.
The utilities, PNM, Xcel Energy, El Paso Electric, and Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, cite the Renewable Energy Act of 2004, which created New Mexico’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), as an impetus for the project. The RPS requires electric utilities to produce or buy increasing amounts of renewable energy to reach benchmark amounts over time: 6 percent of sales by 2007, 10 percent by 2011, 15 percent by 2015, and 20 percent by 2020.
The plant would ideally come online in 2011, using "parabolic trough" technology according to a PNM press release, and must be located within New Mexico. Another requirement is that it deliver between 211,000 and 375,000 megawatt-hours per year, which PNM says would power between 29,000 and 52,000 average New Mexico homes.
The parabolic trough technology is the most feasible for a large New Mexico plant, according to a feasibility study conducted last year. Basically, a series of trough-shaped mirrors focus sunlight into oil-filled tubes. The heated oil then creates steam which is used to turn a generator, producing electricity. The electricity is then collected in thermal energy storage in order for electricity to be available during the evenings as well as cloudy days. The applicants are encouraged to bid projects with and without thermal energy storage, and all bids must be for a "dry or hybrid cooled project" due to our desert environment that makes water a "valuable resource."
“Each of the utilities has shown tremendous leadership by coming together as partners for renewable energy,” said Pat Vincent, PNM Utilities President, in a press release. “The four of us directly or indirectly provide electricity to almost every customer in the state.”
The RFP has an interesting map on page fourteen that shows the major transmission areas of each company. Tri-State provides wholesale power to twelve member electric cooperatives throughout the state. PNM, XCel and El Paso Electric are investor-owned utilities. XCel provides energy to the southeastern portion of the state through it’s subsidiary, Southwestern Public Service. El Paso Electric covers the southern part of the state, and PNM covers Albuquerque and the northern portion of the state, with a few lines reaching into the south and the east.
