Group wants state regulators recused from PNM case | Albuquerque Journal News.
“People want to know choices are being made transparently and wisely and democratically,” New Energy Economy executive director Mariel Nanasi said in a statement. “PNM (Public Service Company of New Mexico) and some of our state utility regulators have completely corrupted that public faith.”
The commissioners did not immediately respond to requests from The Associated Press for comment.
Lyons told the Santa Fe New Mexican that the allegations were baseless and politically motivated.
“They’re a very liberal organization that doesn’t take into consideration the ratepayers of New Mexico,” he said. “They’re grabbing at straws, trying to push through a liberal agenda.”
The proposal for shutting down part of the San Juan Generating Station is aimed at curbing haze-causing pollution in the region. The terms were negotiated in 2013 by Republican Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration, PNM and officials from the Navajo Nation.
Under the plan, two units at the San Juan plant near Farmington, N.M., would be closed and the lost power replaced with a mix of coal from one of the plant’s other units, electricity generated by the Palo Verde nuclear plant in Arizona, a new natural gas-fired plant and solar.
PNM’s regulatory filings estimate the cost over 20 years at more than $6.8 billion. The utility has said the power replacement plan represents the most cost-effective alternative for dealing with federal environmental mandates that call for reducing pollution at San Juan.
New Energy Economy has argued that the proposal depends too much on coal- and nuclear-generated power and would saddle customers with the costs of impending emissions regulations as well as the expense of decommissioning coal- and nuclear-fired plants in the future.
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A MESSAGE FROM NEW ENERGY ECONOMY – Please join with us and hundreds of New Mexicans on January 5th, 2015 at 9AM-11AM to demonstrate on the first day of the Public Regulation Commission (PRC) hearing that will determine NM’s energy future for the next 25 years. Let’s stand together to demand clean, affordable replacement power for New Mexico and say NO to more expensive nuclear and dirty coal.
More than 30 community groups from throughout the state representing INDIGENOUS RIGHTS, FAITH, THE ARTS, BUSINESS, SOCIAL JUSTICE, & ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY are hosting this critical convergence.
Together we will demonstrate the public will for replacement power that is free from the financial, health, and environmental risks and costs of coal and nuclear, and as a result is CHEAPER for rate-payers and will lead to hundreds of jobs and large-scale renewable energy deployment.
January 5th is the first day of the two-week long Public Regulation Commission Hearing through which the replacement power decision will be determined.
TRANFORMATION REQUIRES LARGE-SCALE SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND THIS IS OUR CHANCE TO MOBILIZE IN NEW MEXICO FOR THE ENERGY TRANSITION OPPORTUNITY OF OUR LIFETIMES.
JOIN US!!!
New Energy Economy FB: https://www.facebook.com/events/590135834447429/?ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular
We Won’t Stop FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/We-Wont-Stop/732678656819716
