New Mexico 2025 Regular Session

New Mexico House Bill HB273 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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28	28	HOUSE BILL 273
29	29	57TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - FIRST SESSION, 2025
30	30	INTRODUCED BY
31	31	Randall T. Pettigrew and Mark B. Murphy and Jonathan A. Henry
32	32	AN ACT
33	33	RELATING TO RENEWABLE ENERGY; AMENDING THE RURAL ELECTRIC
34	34	COOPERATIVE ACT AND THE RENEWABLE ENERGY ACT TO INCLUDE NATURAL
35	35	GAS USING COMBINED CYCLE TECHNOLOGY IN THE DEFINITION OF
36	36	"RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCE".
37	37	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
38	38	SECTION 1. Section 62-15-37 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2007,
39	39	Chapter 4, Section 4, as amended) is amended to read:
40	40	"62-15-37. DEFINITIONS--ENERGY EFFICIENCY--RENEWABLE
41	41	ENERGY.--As used in the Rural Electric Cooperative Act:
42	42	A. "energy efficiency" means measures, including
43	43	energy conservation measures, or programs that target consumer
44	44	behavior, equipment or devices to result in a decrease in
45	45	consumption of electricity without reducing the amount or
46	46	quality of energy services;
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74	74	B. "renewable energy" means electric energy
75	75	generated by use of renewable energy resources and delivered to
76	76	a rural electric cooperative;
77	77	C. "renewable energy certificate" means a
78	78	certificate or other record, in a format approved by the public
79	79	regulation commission, that represents all the environmental
80	80	attributes from one megawatt-hour of electricity generated from
81	81	renewable energy;
82	82	D. "renewable energy resource" means electric or
83	83	useful thermal energy:
84	84	(1) generated by use of the following energy
85	85	resources, with or without energy storage and delivered to a
86	86	rural electric cooperative:
87	87	(a) solar, wind, [and ] geothermal and
88	88	natural gas using combined cycle technology ;
89	89	(b) hydropower facilities brought in
90	90	service on or after July 1, 2007;
91	91	(c) other hydropower facilities
92	92	supplying no greater than the amount of energy from hydropower
93	93	facilities that were part of an energy supply portfolio prior
94	94	to July 1, 2007;
95	95	(d) fuel cells that do not use fossil
96	96	fuels to create electricity;
97	97	(e) biomass resources, limited to
98	98	agriculture or animal waste, small diameter timber, not to
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127	127	exceed eight inches, salt cedar and other phreatophyte or woody
128	128	vegetation removed from river basins or watersheds in New
129	129	Mexico; provided that these resources are from facilities
130	130	certified by the energy, minerals and natural resources
131	131	department to: 1) be of appropriate scale to have sustainable
132	132	feedstock in the near vicinity; 2) have zero life cycle carbon
133	133	emissions; and 3) meet scientifically determined restoration,
134	134	sustainability and soil nutrient principles; and
135	135	(f) landfill gas and anaerobically
136	136	digested waste biomass; and
137	137	(2) does not include electric energy generated
138	138	by use of fossil fuel or nuclear energy, except for natural gas
139	139	using combined cycle technology ;
140	140	E. "useful thermal energy" means renewable energy
141	141	delivered from a source that can be metered and that is
142	142	delivered in the state to an end user in the form of direct
143	143	heat, steam or hot water or other thermal form that is used for
144	144	heating, cooling, humidity control, process use or other valid
145	145	end-use energy requirements and for which fossil fuel or
146	146	electricity would otherwise be consumed;
147	147	F. "zero carbon resource" means an electricity
148	148	generation resource that emits no carbon dioxide into the
149	149	atmosphere, or that reduces methane emitted into the atmosphere
150	150	in an amount equal to no less than one-tenth of the tons of
151	151	carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere, as a result of
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180	180	electricity production; and
181	181	G. "zero carbon resource standard" means providing
182	182	New Mexico rural electric cooperative retail customers with
183	183	electricity generated from one hundred percent zero carbon
184	184	resources."
185	185	SECTION 2. Section 62-16-3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2004,
186	186	Chapter 65, Section 3, as amended) is amended to read:
187	187	"62-16-3. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Renewable Energy
188	188	Act:
189	189	A. "commission" means the public regulation
190	190	commission;
191	191	B. "energy storage" means batteries or other means
192	192	by which energy can be retained and delivered as electricity
193	193	for use at a later time;
194	194	C. "municipality" means a municipal corporation,
195	195	organized under the laws of the state, and H class counties;
196	196	D. "public utility" means an entity certified by
197	197	the commission to provide retail electric service in New Mexico
198	198	pursuant to the Public Utility Act but does not include rural
199	199	electric cooperatives;
200	200	E. "reasonable cost threshold" means an average
201	201	annual levelized cost of sixty dollars ($60.00) per megawatt-
202	202	hour at the point of interconnection of the renewable energy
203	203	resource with the transmission system, adjusted for inflation
204	204	after 2020;
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233	233	F. "renewable energy" means electric energy
234	234	generated by use of renewable energy resources and delivered to
235	235	a public utility;
236	236	G. "renewable energy certificate" means a
237	237	certificate or other record, in a format approved by the
238	238	commission, that represents all the environmental attributes
239	239	from one megawatt-hour of electricity generated from renewable
240	240	energy;
241	241	H. "renewable energy resource" means the following
242	242	energy resources, with or without energy storage:
243	243	(1) solar, wind, [and ] geothermal and natural
244	244	gas using combined cycle technology ;
245	245	(2) hydropower facilities brought in service
246	246	on or after July 1, 2007;
247	247	(3) biomass resources, limited to agriculture
248	248	or animal waste, small diameter timber, not to exceed eight
249	249	inches, salt cedar and other phreatophyte or woody vegetation
250	250	removed from river basins or watersheds in New Mexico; provided
251	251	that these resources are from facilities certified by the
252	252	energy, minerals and natural resources department to:
253	253	(a) be of appropriate scale to have
254	254	sustainable feedstock in the near vicinity;
255	255	(b) have zero life cycle carbon
256	256	emissions; and
257	257	(c) meet scientifically determined
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286	286	restoration, sustainability and soil nutrient principles;
287	287	(4) fuel cells that do not use fossil fuels to
288	288	create electricity; and
289	289	(5) landfill gas and anaerobically digested
290	290	waste biogas;
291	291	I. "renewable portfolio standard" means the minimum
292	292	percentage of retail sales of electricity by a public utility
293	293	to electric consumers in New Mexico that is required by the
294	294	Renewable Energy Act to be from renewable energy;
295	295	J. "renewable purchased power agreement" means an
296	296	agreement that binds an entity generating power from renewable
297	297	energy resources to provide power at a specified price and
298	298	binds the purchaser to that price;
299	299	K. "zero carbon resource" means an electricity
300	300	generation resource that emits no carbon dioxide into the
301	301	atmosphere, or that reduces methane emitted into the atmosphere
302	302	in an amount equal to no less than one-tenth of the tons of
303	303	carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere, as a result of
304	304	electricity production; and
305	305	L. "zero carbon resource standard" means providing
306	306	New Mexico public utility customers with electricity generated
307	307	from one hundred percent zero carbon resources."
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