[Lwvcnmtopics] NM PRC meeting of September 22

[George Richmond]

I was on for four hours starting at 930 AM...but here is a summary.

Last week there was discussion of the proposal of Southwestern Public 
Service, a subsidiary of Xcel Energy serving Eastern NM and parts of 
West texas about how they would provide Charging Stations for Electric 
Vehicles in the future. (The other two Investor Owned Utilities, PNM and 
El Paso Electric, will file their plans later).  There were several 
comments about the nature of the 17 stations credit card charging 
facilities so at today's meeting five people from the Sierra Club asked 
to speak (for up to three minutes  on the need for easy to use credit 
card chargers.  Two points here: League members can speak at meetings as 
well if they sign up at least one day in advance and two, some people 
like to "swipe" their cards or "insert" the chip but seem to have issues 
with touch-less card use.  It depends on the card readers being used.

SPS will start with 17 charging stations and add more as they get 
experience and there are more Electric Vehicles on the road. Like the 
Chicken/Egg issue!!

Budget:

The PRC is applying for a supplemental budget increase of $1.4 Million 
on a budget of $11.9 M now.  As there have been no budget increases for 
many years, the PRC has used the ploy of not filling budget positions to 
balance its budget, but of course, service has been poor as there have 
not been enough staff.  Our Public Schools had like issue with teacher 
salaries which have been raised but not to the levels of TX..yet. The 
PRC is planning for budget increases in future years and will have 
legislative members to its new office in Santa Fe for presentations in 
the near future. Future challenges for the PRC include the transition to 
renewable energy from fossil fuel fired power plants and the need for 
more Grid or transmission lines.

Rural Universal Service:

The NM Legislature passed legislation, The Rural Telecommunications Act, 
which gives the NM PRC oversight on the transition from fixed line 
telephone service to wireless phone/broadband.  Issues like:  What is 
Digital Equity and Inclusion were not spelled out in legislation and 
left to the PRC.   The PRC would like some clarification.  Also the fund 
is capped at $30 M per year which does not provide much for expanding 
service, particularly as the legislation was written to provide 
reimbursement for those fixed line providers who lost customers to cell 
phones/broadband service.

Rural Electric Co Op service:

Most of the electric power and transmission comes from Tri State 
Generation and Transmission, based in CO, which provides power to many 
NM Rural Electric Co Ops.  The NM PRC was concerned about the transition 
to Renewable Energy from Fossil Fuel power for the NM Co Ops.  Tri State 
is now regulated by the FERC and also the state of CO and will provide 
NM with information about its move to renewables which currently is for 
40% by 2025 and 50% by 2030, and probably all by 2050.  Tri State 
prepares a 20 year plan with updates every four years and is likely to 
make an informal presentation the NM PRC in the next few months as well 
as providing its plan.

Now a few words on FERC:

Its Chairman:

hairman Richard Glick was named by President Biden to be Chairman of the 
Federal Regulatory Commission on January 21, 2021 and is serving a 
Commission term that ends June 30, 2022.

Glick was nominated to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by 
President Donald J. Trump in August 2017 and confirmed by the U.S. 
Senate on November 2, 2017.

Before joining the Commission, he was general counsel for the Democrats 
on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, serving as a 
senior policy advisor on numerous issues including electricity and 
renewable energy.

Prior to that, he was vice president of government affairs for 
*Iberdrola’s renewable energy, electric and gas utility, and natural gas 
storage businesses in the United States. He ran the company’s 
Washington, DC, office and was responsible for developing and 
implementing the U.S. businesses’ federal legislative and regulatory 
policy advocacy strategies.*

Iberdrola is the parent company of Avangrid, who is planning to buy PNM.

What does FERC do?


The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, is an independent 
agency that regulates the interstate transmission of electricity, 
natural gas, and oil. FERC also reviews proposals to build liquefied 
natural gas (LNG) terminals and interstate natural gas pipelines as well 
as licensing hydropower projects. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 gave 
FERC additional responsibilities as outlined and updated Strategic Plan 
<https://www.ferc.gov/strategic-plan>. As part of that responsibility, FERC:

  * Regulates the transmission and wholesale sales of electricity in
    interstate commerce;
  * *Reviews certain mergers and acquisitions and corporate transactions
    by electricity companies*;
  * Regulates the transmission and sale of natural gas for resale in
    interstate commerce;
  * Regulates the transportation of oil by pipeline in interstate commerce;
  * Approves the siting and abandonment of interstate natural gas
    pipelines and storage facilities;
  * Reviews the siting application for electric transmission projects
    under limited circumstances;
  * Assess the safe operation and reliability of proposed and operating
    LNG terminals;
  * Licenses and inspects private, municipal, and state hydroelectric
    projects;
  * Protects the reliability of the high voltage interstate transmission
    system through mandatory reliability standards;
  * Monitors and investigates energy markets;

There is more, but to get to the point:  FERC HAS SIGNED OFF ON THE 
PNM/AVANGRID MERGER.

Your Observer to the NM PRC,

George Richmond

*
*

-- 
George M. Richmond
152 Juniper Hill Road, NE
Albuquerque, NM 87122-1913

C: 505-280-2105
E: geomrich1 at comcast.net



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