New Mexico § 62-16-4 - Renewable portfolio standard

§ 62-16-4. Renewable portfolio standard

A. A public utility shall meet the renewable portfolio standard requirements, as provided

in this section, to include renewable energy in its electric energy supply portfolio

as demonstrated by its retirement of renewable energy certificates; provided that

the associated renewable energy is delivered to the public utility and assigned to

the public utility's New Mexico customers. For public utilities other than rural electric cooperatives and municipalities,

requirements of the renewable portfolio standard are: (1) no later than January 1, 2015, renewable energy shall comprise no less than fifteen

percent of each public utility's total retail sales to New Mexico customers; (2) no later than January 1, 2020, renewable energy shall comprise no less than twenty

percent of each public utility's total retail sales to New Mexico customers; (3) no later than January 1, 2025, renewable energy shall comprise no less than forty

percent of each public utility's total retail sales of electricity to New Mexico customers; (4) no later than January 1, 2030, renewable energy shall comprise no less than fifty

percent of each public utility's total retail sales of electricity to New Mexico customers; (5) no later than January 1, 2040, renewable energy resources shall supply no less

than eighty percent of all retail sales of electricity in New Mexico; provided that

compliance with this standard until December 31, 2047 shall not require the public

utility to displace zero carbon resources in the utility's generation portfolio on

the effective date of this 2019 act; and (6) no later than January 1, 2045, zero carbon resources shall supply one hundred

percent of all retail sales of electricity in New Mexico. Reasonable and consistent progress shall be made over time toward this requirement. B. In administering the standards required by Paragraphs (5) and (6) of Subsection

A of this section, the commission shall: (1) not jeopardize the operation of a sewage treatment facility that captures and

combusts methane gas in the facility's operations; (2) maintain and protect the safety, reliable operation and balancing of loads and

resources on the electric system; (3) prevent unreasonable impacts to customer electricity bills, taking into consideration

the economic and environmental costs and benefits of renewable energy resources and

zero carbon resources; (4) prevent carbon dioxide emitting electricity-generating resources from being reassigned,

redesignated or sold as a means of complying with the standard; (5) in consultation with the energy, minerals and natural resources department, undertake

programs not prohibited by law to achieve the standard; (6) in consultation with the department of environment, ensure that the standard does

not result in material increases to greenhouse gas emissions from entities not subject

to commission oversight and regulation; and (7) in consultation with electricity transmission system operators responsible for

balancing New Mexico electricity loads and resources, issue a report to the legislature

by July 1, 2020, and each July 1 every four years thereafter. The report shall include: (a) review of the standard, with a focus on technologies, forecasts, existing transmission,

environmental protection, public safety, affordability and electricity transmission

and distribution system reliability; (b) evaluation of the anticipated financial costs and benefits to electric utilities

in implementing the standard, including the impacts and benefits to customer electricity

bills; and (c) identification of the barriers to, and benefits of, achieving the standard. C. Any customer that is a political subdivision of the state, or any educational institution

designated in Article 12, Section 11 of the constitution of New Mexico with an enrollment of twenty thousand students or more during the fall semester on

its main campus, with consumption exceeding twenty thousand megawatt-hours per year

at any single location or facility and that owns facilities that produce renewable

energy or hosts such facilities through a renewable purchased power agreement, shall

not be charged by the utility for power purchases of one year or less or fuel on the

amount of electricity purchased from the utility equal to the amount of renewable

energy produced or hosted by the customer. The customer shall annually certify to the state auditor and notify the commission

and the customer's serving electric utility of the amount of renewable energy produced

at the customer-owned or customer-hosted facilities that generate renewable energy. The customer shall also certify to the state auditor and notify the commission that

the customer will retire all renewable energy certificates associated with the renewable

energy produced by those facilities. Any financial benefits as a result of the provisions of this subsection shall accrue

to the customer immediately upon the effective date of this 2019 act and shall be

reflected in customer bills each month, subject to annual true-up and reconciliation. The provisions of this subsection shall not prevent the utility from recovering

all of its reasonable and prudent fuel and purchased power costs. D. Upon a motion or application by a public utility the commission shall, or upon

a motion or application by any other person the commission may, open a docket to develop

and provide financial or other incentives to encourage public utilities to produce

or acquire renewable energy that exceeds the applicable annual renewable portfolio

standard set forth in this section; results in reductions in carbon dioxide emissions

earlier than required by Subsection A of this section; or causes a reduction in the

generation of electricity by coal-fired generating facilities, including coal-fired

generating facilities located outside of New Mexico. The incentives may include additional earnings and capital investment opportunities

for resources used in furtherance of the outcomes described in this subsection. E. If, in any given year, a public utility determines that the average annual levelized

cost of renewable energy that would need to be procured or generated for purposes

of compliance with the renewable portfolio standard would be greater than the reasonable

cost threshold, the public utility shall not be required to incur that excess cost;

provided that the existence of this condition excusing performance in any given year

shall not operate to delay compliance with the renewable portfolio standard in subsequent

years. The provisions of this subsection do not preclude a public utility from accepting

a project with a cost that would exceed the reasonable cost threshold. When a public utility can generate or procure renewable energy at or below the reasonable

cost threshold, it shall be required to do so to the extent necessary to meet the

applicable renewable portfolio standard and shall not be precluded from exceeding

the standard. F. By September 1, 2007 and until June 30, 2019, a public utility shall file a report

to the commission on its procurement and generation of renewable energy during the

prior calendar year and a procurement plan that includes: (1) the cost of procurement for any new renewable energy resource in the next calendar

year required to comply with the renewable portfolio standard; and (2) testimony and exhibits that demonstrate that the proposed procurement is reasonable

as to its terms and conditions considering price, availability, reliability, any renewable

energy certificate values and diversity of the renewable energy resource; or (3) demonstration that the plan is otherwise in the public interest. G. By July 1, 2020, and each July 1 thereafter, a public utility shall file a report

to the commission on the public utility's procurement and generation of renewable

energy since the last report and a procurement plan that includes: (1) the cost of procurement for new renewable energy required to comply with the renewable

portfolio standard; (2) the capital, operating and fuel costs on a per-megawatt-hour basis during the

preceding calendar year of each nonrenewable generation resource rate-based by the

utility, or dedicated to the utility through a power purchase agreement of one year

or longer, and the nonrenewable generation resources' carbon dioxide emissions on

a per-megawatt-hour basis during that same year; (3) information, including exhibits, as applicable, that demonstrates that the proposed

procurement: (a) was the result of competitive procurement that included opportunities for bidders

to propose purchased power, facility self-build or facility build-transfer options; (b) has a cost that is reasonable as evidenced by a comparison of the price of electricity

from renewable energy resources in the bids received by the public utility to recent

prices for comparable energy resources elsewhere in the southwestern United States;

and (c) is in the public interest, considering factors such as overall cost and economic

development opportunities; and (4) strategies used to minimize costs of renewable energy integration, including location,

diversity, balancing area activity, demand-side management and load management. H. The commission shall approve or modify a public utility's procurement plan within

ninety days and may approve the plan without a hearing, unless a protest is filed

that demonstrates to the commission's reasonable satisfaction that a hearing is necessary. The commission may modify a plan after notice and hearing. The commission may, for good cause, extend the time to approve a procurement plan

for an additional ninety days. If the commission does not act within the ninety-day period, the procurement plan

is deemed approved. I. The commission may reject a procurement plan if, within forty days of filing, the

commission finds that the plan does not contain the required information and, upon

the rejection, shall provide the public utility the time necessary to file a revised

plan; provided that the total amount of renewable energy required to be procured

by the public utility shall not change.