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Wind Power News: New Mexico
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch in its noncommercial educational effort to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch. They are the products of and owned by the organizations or individuals noted and are shared here according to “fair use” and “fair dealing” provisions of copyright law.
NMSU professor claims wind turbines could put wildlife at risk
Some people fear clean energy sources could harm wildlife in New Mexico. Dr. Gary Roemer, a professor at New Mexico State University, said he suspects wind turbines have killed eagles in the state. However, there is not a lot of surveillance at the wind farms, so it’s hard to be sure. “If we start putting up wind turbines all over the place, without mitigating the impact, that’s going to be another additive mortality factor to these populations that maybe they . . . Complete story »
Fourth wind farm may be coming to Torrance County
A New Mexico county is taking advantage of being one of the windiest parts of the state, and it’s bringing in millions. People in Torrance County are seeing windmill farms pop up all over the place, and they’re about to see even more. “I am starting to see them now along the roadways,” resident Manuel Wood said. “You can see them that they are all out here.” Torrance County commissioners are expected to approve an industrial revenue bond next month . . . Complete story »
New Mexico wind energy projects advance renewable power agenda
A major energy provider in New Mexico announced plans to purchase a wind energy transmission line Wednesday intended to deliver wind-powered electricity across the state when completed in 2021. Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) received approval for the acquisition from the New Mexico Public Regulatory Commission to purchase the Wester Spirit transmission line from Pattern Development and the New Mexico Renewable Energy Transmission Authority (RETA) once construction is complete. Pattern and RETA were tasked with developing and building . . . Complete story »
Renewable energy firm doubles down on western wind projects
A key driver for Pattern Development’s upcoming investments is a recent decision by the state Public Regulation Commission to allow Public Service Co. of New Mexico to acquire a 165-mile (266-kilometer) transmission line that will be built through a partnership between Pattern and the state’ Renewable Energy Transmission Authority. It will connect wind farms in rural central New Mexico to other points on the grid. “That allows us to build more than a $1 billion of new wind projects in New Mexico that the line will serve,” Kottler said. Complete story »
PRC greenlights PNM purchase of transmission line
The 165-mile Western Spirit transmission line project took a huge leap forward this week when state regulators approved Public Service Company of New Mexico’s request to acquire the line once operational in 2021. Energy company Pattern Development is building the $360 million Western Spirit line in cooperation with the state’s Renewable Energy Transmission Authority, a quasi-governmental entity that the Legislature created in 2007 to help finance and build transmission systems to carry wind-generated electricity from central and eastern New Mexico. . . . Complete story »
Land office hires renewable-energy staff
SANTA FE – State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard has hired two staff members to help boost renewable energy production on state trust lands. Garcia Richard, a Democrat who took office Jan. 1, won approval this year for an extra $100,000 in funding to help establish the Office of Renewable Energy – part of a push to triple the amount of wind, solar and other renewable energy generated on state trust land. New Mexico’s commissioner of public lands oversees 14,000 square miles . . . Complete story »
County Commissioners hear Western Spirit complaints
The Socorro County Board of Commissioners last week heard from a dozen residents of the county who are fighting to stop a high voltage transmission line from running through properties in southern Valencia County and northern Socorro County. The Western Spirit Transmission Line is a proposed 140-mile, 345-kilovolt transmission line that will collect renewable power from a wind farm near Clines Corners and deliver approximately 1,000 megawatts of power to the existing grid in northwestern New Mexico. One property owner, . . . Complete story »
Large wind energy project proposed east of Round Valley
SOCORRO, N.M. – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will hold a public meeting on Sept. 18 on the proposed Borderlands Wind Project. The meeting will start at 5 p.m., and will be held at the Quemado Elementary School and High School Cafeteria, located at 3484 Highway 60, Quemado, NM 87829. The BLM published a Notice of Availability in the Federal Register on August 9, 2019, for a draft Environmental Impact Statement and draft Resource Management Plan amendment to analyze . . . Complete story »
Beyond wind and solar
I can’t believe anyone actually thinks New Mexico can decarbonize by 2050. That is exactly what the state is trying to do with their Clean Energy Transition Act (CETA) which plans to replace fossil fuels for generating electricity with non-fuel intermittent based wind and solar energy assisted by natural gas (oops, that’s stored carbon). New Mexico regulators are just now charting the CETA requirements into two parallel paths, one to determine how to finance and implement the decommissioning of the . . . Complete story »
Consumers deserve full story on wind turbines
I have to chuckle every time I read a story about “carbon-free” wind turbines. These reports do a disservice to readers because they do not fully explain what makes these turbines run (hint: it is something we produce a lot of here in New Mexico) or that they are manufactured. These stories also do not explain how much of our power comes from wind (hint: it is not a huge amount) and, very often, they do not explain the strides . . . Complete story »
