September 30, 2011 • Las Cruces, New Mexico

Allan Oliver

On September 30^th, the New Mexico Green Chamber of Commerce and clean-energy business leaders from across the state unveiled a policy platform to help New Mexico grow its green economy at the first-ever statewide Renewable Energy and Clean Technology Conference. Held at the Rio Grande Theater in Las Cruces, the conference drew more than 200 participants from industry, government, higher education, and research laboratories; as well as federal, state, and local policy-makers.

New Mexico’s clean economy already makes up 5.9% of the state’s private-sector employment and supports more than 35,800 jobs. This sector has been growing steadily and supporting New Mexicans with good-paying jobs, but the future of our economy will depend on whether we can protect the policies and incentives that encourage a transition to cleaner sources of energy and advance clean technologies.

In anticipation of the conference, the New Mexico Green Chamber interviewed and met with dozens of renewable energy, clean technology, biofuels companies and industry associations in New Mexico and developed a common-sense policy platform to advance opportunities in the clean economy.

Their multiple recommendations to state and federal policy-makers included:

(See full list of recommendations in the previous article, “Policy Blueprint Unveiled at Renewable Energy and Clean Technology Conference.”)

• Protect and expand the New Mexico Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), and ensure that it is predictable and supports New Mexico small businesses and job creation.
• Keep incentives for New Mexico’s solar, wind, biofuels, geothermal, green building, biomass and clean tech to attract new companies and grow local businesses.
• Support responsible development of renewable energy on public lands.
• Protect and extend the state and federal programs that support New Mexico biofuels companies like the federal Renewable Fuels Standard 2, USDA loan guarantees and the “1603” program, and the state B5 biodiesel program.

Like last Legislative session, the New Mexico Green Chamber of Commerce is anticipating several efforts in the legislature to rollback the RPS and reduce the amount of renewable energy generated by our public utilities. In October, PNM was before the Public Regulation Commission asking for approval to not meet the 10 percent renewable energy standard by 2011. Both of these efforts would eliminate jobs in rural and urban parts of our state and hurt one of the few fast-growing segments of our economy in the midst of a recession.

Companies participating in these roundtables urged that utilities be more transparent in their budget calculations, and implement the RPS program as the Legislature intended. But while every New Mexican pays for energy through their rates, many times utilities use out-of state contractors and manufacturers for the RPS program. New Mexico’s renewable companies interviewed urged that our political leaders incentivize the use of in-state contractors and equipment manufactured in New Mexico for energy projects to help create additional jobs.

These renewable energy business leaders also made it clear that to keep their businesses moving, the existing federal and state incentives need to remain in place. New Mexico’s renewable companies made it clear that they don’t see a need for incentives to be in place forever. For example, the solar-industry sector asked to keep incentives in place for only the next 4 to 5 years. With rising consumer demand and falling prices, solar will be competitively priced by 2016—if not before.

Conference keynote speaker Interior Department Senior Adviser Alan Gilbert echoed another key policy recommendation in his talk, saying “Encouraging new sources of renewable energy for our country on our public lands is a high priority for President Obama and Secretary Salazar, both for the energy people will be able to use and for the jobs these new and important businesses will bring.”

After the conference, Tim Zenk, Vice President of Corporate Affairs for Sapphire Energy also outlined the need for collaborative leadership on a state and national level. “Sapphire Energy’s state of the art algae-based fuel facilities in Las Cruces and Columbus exemplify the positive effects New Mexico’s clean-tech industry can have on the regional economy as we continue to expand and add jobs. But in order to speed commercial expansion of our algae-based fuel facilities, state and federal policymakers must work hand-in-hand to develop policies that encourage continued growth in the algae industry.”

These clean-tech and renewable energy business leaders asked for short-term investments, not permanent subsidies. They believe that any public investment should have a strong return in job creation and new tax revenue. They asked for a level playing field for their business, not favoritism. Their recommendations do not undermine existing jobs, but rather create new jobs.

Most of all, New Mexico’s renewable businesses asked for leadership and bold action now, when New Mexico can seize its competitive advantage and become the national leader in the production of clean energy and the good-paying jobs that support it.

Allan Oliver is CEO of the NMGCC. Oliver served as the NM Economic Development Department’s Secretary overseeing the Office of Mexican affairs, the Office of International Trade, and the Office of Science and Technology. He was also Gov. Richardson’s Director of Cabinet Affairs, Deputy Communications Director, and policy advisor.

The New Mexico Green Chamber of Commerce is a non-partisan association with over 1,200 business members dedicated to advocating on behalf of clean energy, seizing the green business advantage, and supporting local economies. The NM Green Chamber of Commerce members believe that responsible business invests in people, protects air, land and water, and creates long-term sustainable profits.

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New Mexico has emerging technology from our national labs and universities, world-class wind, solar, geothermal resources, and a growing number of businesses in these clean tech sectors. A recent NMSU study suggests there are now 35,800 people working in the clean economy, accounting for about 5.9% of the New Mexico workforce. New Mexico is the right place to develop these industries, but our state must maintain or increase public investment in order to remain competitive.

Other states are wisely investing in these emerging sectors now, so that soon, when their products become fully cost-competitive, they will never need incentives again. By investing in developing a strong clean tech sector now, New Mexico will be sure to capitalize on the huge opportunity this global market represents. At the same time, these technologies put our state and nation on a path toward domestic energy and water security.

Over the course of the last three months, the New Mexico Green Chamber interviewed and convened meetings with dozens of renewable energy, clean technology, biofuels companies and industry associations in New Mexico to listen to their interests and to understand the actions they seek from local, state and national leaders.

These clean tech and renewable energy business leaders asked for short-term investments, not permanent subsidies. They believe that any public investment should have a strong return in job creation and new tax revenue. They asked for a level playing field for their business, not favoritism. Their recommendations do not undermine existing jobs, but rather create new jobs. Most of all they asked for leadership and bold action. The time to act is now.

We present the following “New Opportunities for Business” Platform:

New Opportunities for Business Platform

Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency

• Protect and expand the New Mexico Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), and ensure that it is predictable and supports New Mexico small businesses and job creation. Make sure the utilities are transparent in their actions and implement the program as intended. Incentivize the use of in-state contractors and equipment manufactured in New Mexico to create additional jobs.
• Keep New Mexico’s existing incentives to attract new companies and grow local businesses. New Mexico must not rollback incentives to expand local solar, wind biofuels, geothermal, biomass, green building and clean tech businesses or recruit new businesses.
• Facilitate the responsible development of small and large renewable energy projects and transmission on New Mexico’s public, private, and tribal lands. The Department of Interior should continue to work in partnership with local, state, federal and tribal leaders.
• Expedite local, state and federal permitting for building transmission infrastructure to facilitate the export of renewable energy to out-of-state markets.
• Extend manufacturing job creation incentives to private sector research and development jobs to leverage our scientific assets. Create bonus incentives for clean technology in existing job creation incentives.

• Harmonize regulatory and permitting requirements for renewable energy systems across jurisdictions and inspectors, to help reduce the cost of these systems.

• Protect the rights of New Mexico citizens to interconnect with the electrical grid and to sell the benefits of their renewable energy to whomever they choose.

• Advocate federally for the implementation of PACE districts and other mechanisms that reduce upfront and financing costs for renewable energy and energy efficiency.

• Educate regulators and consumers about the tangible benefits of energy efficiency, including on resale values and monthly energy savings. Support programs that encourage energy efficiency investments.

Biofuels

• Protect and extend the state and federal programs that support New Mexico biofuels companies like the federal Renewable Fuels Standard 2, USDA loan guarantees and the “1603” program, and the state B5 biodiesel program.

• Government regulators should proactively work with biofuels businesses to develop a supportive regulatory and permitting environment for this emerging industry. Be responsive to unique issues that arise as this industry develops, matures and goes to scale.

• Promote parity between biofuels in the criteria for awarding tax credits, subsidies and grants. Distinguish between fuels only based on objective performance criteria (e.g. energy content or emissions). Include biofuels both from biomass sources as well as those produced directly by microorganisms and bio-catalysts.
• Educate decision makers about the job creation, health and economic benefits of a price on carbon to internalize the inherent costs associated with conventional fuels.

Water Technology

• Educate leaders and the public about the benefits and safety of post-treatment water reuse. These technologies are safely used around the world.
• Ensure polluters are responsible for paying the full costs of any water contamination.

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Harvey Stone and Erin Sanborn

Eleven years into the Millennium, we’ve already seen the worst global recession in nearly a century; a growing gulf between America’s richest and the rest of us; and the greatest concentration of extreme fires, floods, droughts, tornadoes and hurricanes to hit New Mexico, New Delhi and everywhere in-between.

What’s worse: In the next few decades, virtually every business and community will be bounced around like a small plane in a large thunderstorm. We can put our head between our knees. Even better: We can develop resilience in the face of the coming political, economic and meteorological upheavals.

Acts of God

“Acts of God” refers to natural disasters “beyond human control.” They have always been with us. A drought drove the Anasazi out of Chaco Canyon. In 2000, lightning started a fire at the Phillips semi-conductor plant in Albuquerque, which disrupted the supply of components for Nokia phones.

Acts of God Exacerbated By Human Hands

What is new are Acts of God that we make worse.

Take population: In 1900, there were three billion of us; by 2050, there will be more than nine billion. Each day, 219,000 more of us need the basics of life, never mind the luxuries.

Take geography: Worldwide, 50% of us live in urban areas. We build many of these cities on floodplains and in deserts. And, as in Japan, we build nuclear power plants along tsunami-prone coasts.

Take Interdependence: Those of us in Las Cruces eat food from Australia. Those of us in Farmington buy cell phones made in China. Those of us in Santa Fe wear clothes sewn in Cambodia.

Take global warming: We burn fossil fuels that add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Those gases trap heat. In turn, pine beetles thrive, and our forests die. Ocean moisture evaporates more. Dry places like NM get drier. Wet places get wetter because warmer air holds more moisture. Naturally occurring hurricanes feed off that moisture and carry a bigger punch.

Given all these factors, we better tighten our seat belts. When Hurricane Katrina hit, 80% of New Orleans flooded; 30 oil rigs and refineries were damaged; across Louisiana, 60,000 small businesses never re-opened.

When the extreme cold hit Texas gas lines this winter, New Mexicans shivered for a week. When fires scorched western and central NM this summer, well over a million acres were burned; sacred lands were desecrated; and Los Alamos residents were forced to evacuate.

Shortly after the Japanese disaster this past March, the heneral manager of a local Toyota dealership was asked about the impact on his business. He laughed and said, “We’ve always planned for disruptions. But this is a whole new ballgame. We’ve got to plan for things we never conceived of.”

So do we.

Given the above, there is lots of good news. Globally, communities and businesses are developing resilience—capabilities that mitigate and minimize their vulnerabilities. Those of us in NM can localize them. We can reduce the impact of extreme weather and of supply-chain disruptions to our food and manufactured products.

Building Resilience

There is a wheelbarrow full of current resilience activities. They include communities with disaster plans; businesses with data back-up plans; access to FEMA and SBA loans; and a lot more that Green Fire Times readers likely know.

There is another wheelbarrow full of emerging activities advocated by the NM Green Chamber of Commerce and many others. To name a few:

• Using renewable energy, especially solar, to power our homes, businesses and schools would cut our vulnerability to geopolitical tensions and price volatility. It would also give us a controllable way to heat our homes in the winter and to air-condition our shops in the summer.

• Shortening our supply chains would reduce our risk. We can do this by growing more food locally; by incubating more NM businesses that supply parts and finished products; by purchasing solar panels from regional manufacturers, which would create more green jobs and keep money in Gallup, Taos and Silver City.

• Implementing triple bottom-line activities would simultaneously address economic, social and environmental issues. These activities reduce costs and waste; generate incremental revenue by selling by-products; and increase brand and customer loyalty by attending to community stakeholders.

Capitalizing on Opportunities

Nashville and many other communities are turning riverfronts into parks that double as flood-absorbers. What would be the equivalent along NM’s forests that minimize the risk of fire?

Santa Fe Community College has developed a first-class program that trains people in designing manufacturing, and installing renewable energy products.

Farmers are developing low-waste, integrated farms with multiple crops and revenue streams. Farmers’ markets are providing local food from local growers.

Out-of-work carpenters are opening fire-and-water-damage restoration businesses.

Electronic manufacturers are building sensors that manage peak electrical loads.

Washing machine and toilet manufacturers are developing low-water or no-water equipment for markets like NM.

As we tighten our seat belts, let’s also put on our thinking caps. New Mexicans are resourceful. New Mexico has a ton of resources. To the degree that we apply both, we will minimize the coming turbulence and optimize our quality of life.

Harvey Stone is the author of Melting Down, a “Jason Bourne meets climate change” thriller. Harvey.stone@harvey-stone.com, 505.989.8943

Erin Sanborn coordinates the Taos Chapter of the NM Green Chamber of Commerce.

erin@nmgreenchamber.com, 575.770.2991

Harvey and Erin consult with communities and businesses on resilience, triple bottom line and related activities.

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Businesses and Organizations Invited to Join Network

Seth Roffman

The Northern New Mexico Green Business Cluster is a new program of the Regional Economic Development Initiative (REDI), a long-term economic development strategy for north-central New Mexico implemented by the Regional Development Corporation in Los Alamos, Rio Arriba, Santa Fe and Taos counties. REDI’s goals are to diversify the economy, develop a high-quality workforce, increase the number of higher paying jobs, retain and attract youth and families, and help make rural communities vibrant. Partners include tribal governments and private sector entities. Currently, REDI is implementing several aspects of the plan, including Regional Broadband, Economic Development Services, Cluster Strategies, and a Public-Private Partnership to sustain the effort.

The Green Business Cluster initiative is working to identify, support and highlight green businesses and related organizations in the region. The intention is to promote a self-sustaining network of regional (and some statewide) green businesses from many disciplines, including green building, energy efficiency and clean technology. The network will bolster communication between cluster members, promote members to internal and external markets, and work together to further northern New Mexico’s green economy. Interested businesses and allied organizations are invited to join.

Clusters, defined as interdependent groups of companies and institutions in a specific region that work closely with each other, share many advantages, including access to specialized resources, an experienced workforce, local suppliers, networking and mentoring, and knowledgeable markets. A significantly higher level of innovation is possible with a cluster, particularly when research institutions are involved. Entrepreneurial initiatives are enhanced by virtue of the fact that suppliers, partners, mentors and other services are available to start-up companies.

The Cluster implementation is being administered for REDI by the Santa Fe Business Incubator (Marie Longserre, President/CEO) and coordinated by David Breecker. Current business and education members include: Paul Laur of Eldorado Biofuels (Santa Fe), Robert Hockaday of eQsolaris (Los Alamos), Larry Mapes of Valverde Energy (Taos), Liana Sanchez of Avanyu Construction (San Ildefonso Pueblo), Faren Dancer of Sundancer Creations (Santa Fe), Michael Roach of CleanAIR Systems (Santa Fe), Eric Whitmore of Santa Fe Community College, Camilla Bustamante of Northern NM College (Espanola) and Jim Gilroy of UNM Taos.

The REDI Green Business Cluster, NM Technology Council North and the Taos Chapter of the NM Green Chamber of Commerce are having a business mixer on November 14^th in Taos (venue tbd) from 5-7 pm. The event will provide an opportunity for entrepreneurs, small and green business owners, and tech-oriented people to mingle, compare notes and share ideas. There will also be some informal discussion on the uses of social media for small businesses.

For more information about the REDI plan, call 505.989.8004 or visit www.nnmredi.org.

For more information about the Cluster, visit http://t.co/7wTZSDh or contact David Breecker at david@breeckerassociates.com.

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Rebekah Azen passed away on October 20. Her multi-part Green Fire Times series, “Kidnapped by the House,” was extensively researched and produced as a well-written solutions-based approach to current housing challenges (which presaged some of the content we’re seeing in the democratically-based “Occupy” movement).

Rebekah was born in Madison, Wisconsin. She began her career working in tribal libraries. Her love of the Southwest and Native American cultures brought her to New Mexico 27 years ago. She had many friends at San Felipe Pueblo. Most recently, she was an employee of the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper, working as both a consultant and a librarian for 15 years.

She was involved with progressive causes throughout her life, with the hope of contributing to positive change in our society and economy. Her ideals were part of her daily life. She had a passion for doing the right thing for the environment and for human and animal rights. She was a great lover of the outdoors and spent much time hiking with her dog, Napoleon.

She founded and chaired the Millennial Light Library to address the scarcity of resources available to the public through mainstream libraries regarding issues of pressing social and ecological concerns, especially in the areas of sustainability and homeopathic medicine.

In 2007, Rebekah resigned from a college library after inadequate response from administrators to her concerns about the health hazards of WiFi exposure.

Rebekah’s “Kidnapped by the House” series may be accessed at http://greenfiretimes.com/category/rebekah-azen/

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The grant is from the U.S. Department of Labor through the New Mexico Dept. of Workforce Solutions. It will support Mesalands Community College in Tucumcari, Central New Mexico Community College in Albuquerque, and Santa Fe Community College’s efforts to develop green training programs for their local communities and other communities through a “train-the-trainer” approach. Those colleges have been designated “centers of excellence” by Workforce Solutions.

“The colleges will assist in meeting the training needs for these emerging industries,” said Celina Bussey, Workforce Solutions Secretary. “The green energy curricula will be available statewide and will bring training to the areas where the work is taking place.”

Mesalands’ Wind Research and Training Center will expand its energy courses and develop short customized courses based on industry demand. Solar thermal and photovoltaic courses at the recently opened Workforce Training Center’s sustainable technologies laboratory at CNM will also expand, and the center will develop advanced solar curricula for student and instructor manuals. SFCC will help CNM, Dona Ana and Luna community colleges develop curricula in biofuels, green building and energy efficiency, and will expand its own certificate and non-credit courses.

For a worker to qualify for the training through the State Energy Sector Partnership Program, you must be in one of the following groups: 1) You are employed but need skills to move into a green job; 2) you are unemployed; 3) you are a woman; 4) you are a veteran; 5) you did not finish high school; or 6) you meet low-income guidelines. To be eligible for training, you must be 18 years of age or older, and have a Social Security number.

More information is available on the NM Green Job Portal at www.greenjobs.state.nm.us.

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PRC Commissioner Jason Marks

A few months after the enormous BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last year, the head of the solar energy industry had his own announcement to make: “There was a major spill of solar energy yesterday,” he solemnly told attendees at an energy conference, before concluding, “Everyone agreed it was a beautiful day.” This bon mot plays on the widespread (and accurate) perception that solar energy is a safe and clean source of power. But is solar energy a serious source of power that can displace fossil fuels on a large scale and at a reasonable cost? This article discusses how we can use solar power and other renewable energy technologies to reach the dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions needed to avoid catastrophic climatic disruption.

New Mexico is blessed with substantial raw natural resources of wind and solar power. During the past decade, renewable energy development focused on wind energy, both in our state and nationally. Between 2000 and 2010, the amount of installed wind generation capacity in the U.S. increased from around 2,000 megawatts (MW) to over 40,000 MW. New Mexico saw 700 MW of wind capacity installed during this period, enough to supply the power needs of more than 200,000 homes, assuming optimal wind conditions. Wind power’s leading role in the renewable world is largely due to its relatively low costs, comparable at times to the costs of fossil fuel (natural gas) generated electricity. So, the more we can do with wind, the lower the impact to our pocketbooks when we substitute a portfolio of renewable energy for fossil fuels.

But wind energy suffers from being an intermittent source whose availability often does not coincide with the times when we use the most electricity. For example, production of electricity from PNM’s wind farm near Santa Rosa generally peaks during the nighttime hours in winter and spring months, while coming in close to zero on hot summer afternoons when electricity demand is highest. The good news is that when engineers from General Electric, working with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Boulder, Colo., modeled hour-by-hour wind availability across the western U.S., electricity demand and existing generation and transmission lines, they concluded that we could fairly easily rely on wind power for up to 30% of our annual average electricity needs. This is a very significant target—and something we need to work towards—but it leaves us short of where we need to be in order to reduce our fossil fuel emissions to safe levels.

That’s where solar comes in. The technical potential of the solar resource in New Mexico alone is enormous: enough to produce more electricity than the entire country uses. Solar energy naturally coincides to an extent with our patterns of electric demand, peaking at mid-day and during the summer months. It can be cost-effectively matched to energy storage (more on this below). And, for the desert Southwest states, solar is a “load-side” resource that can be developed close to population and industrial centers, without the need for long, expensive transmission lines. In fact, solar is so load-side, it can be deployed in the midst of our cities, on buildings, parking structures, and so on. Despite these advantages, solar energy development lagged due to high costs and lack of sufficient investment on the part of our utilities. In 2007, Ben R. Lujan and I enacted PRC rules requiring New Mexico utilities to deploy utility-scale solar projects and to support customer-sited solar-distributed generation. Back then, we had about 200 kilowatts (KW) of solar electricity in the state, powering about 100 homes. Today, we are seeing the results of our solar rules. Over 2,000 homeowners and business participate in solar “REC” (renewable energy certificate) incentive programs mandated by the PRC, producing their own clean energy in the Albuquerque area, Las Cruces, Santa Fe, and even eastern N.M. This adds up to over 17 MW of customer-sited distributed solar generation. On the utility side, we have 150 MW of solar generation in operation, under construction, or contracted for construction during 2012. (No Solyndras here, these projects are all “nailed down.”) Together, this is enough solar electricity to fully supply 55,000 homes.

Recent solar development in NM has focused on photovoltaic (PV) technology, the now-familiar panels that convert photons, carrying solar energy directly into electricity without any moving parts. The less well-known form of solar technology is solar thermal (also known as concentrating solar power or CSP). Most solar thermal power plants use mirrors to concentrate the sun’s heat and then use the heat to make steam that can turn a power-generating turbine. This technology was pioneered at Sandia Labs in the 1970s, leading to commercial-scale demonstrations in California’s Mojave Desert in the 1980s that operate with outstanding reliability to this day. Over the past decade, the hub of solar thermal activity has been in southern Spain, with one of the main goals being the development of energy storage that can turn solar energy into a dispatchable (it’s there when you need it) source of electricity.

The newly constructed Gemasolar plant near Seville stores solar heat it collects from 2,650 mirrors focused on a central power tower in a large tank containing tons of molten potassium salts. Operators then extract the heat as needed to make steam and electricity. With 15 hours of storage capability, Gemasolar produces a constant output of 19 MW of electricity from its steam turbine 24 hours a day during summer months. During winter months, the operators plan to match output to the shape of electric demand; for example, shutting down in the dead of night and spooling up in the early morning hours.

Solar thermal power, with its storage capabilities, is an essential element of our future clean energy portfolio. It’s hard for me to see how to make renewable energy our majority power source, truly displacing today’s fossil-fuel electric fleet, without developing large amounts of solar thermal storage. Storing large amounts of energy from wind or solar PV does not appear to be economically feasible with current technologies (although there are significant opportunities to use batteries onboard or even retired from electric vehicles for grid storage and balancing). Biomass and geothermal power plants are capable of producing renewable-sourced electricity around the clock, but these sources are not available in sufficient quantities to supply a major portion of our energy demands.

Construction is moving forward on three large solar thermal plants in the U.S., including the 280 MW Solana project in Arizona, designed with six hours of storage to serve the summer afternoon/early evening demand peak. But many other planned solar thermal projects have stalled or been cancelled, including a 90 MW plant that was to be built near Las Cruces to serve NM customers of El Paso Electric Co.

Ironically, one of the main factors in the cancellation of solar thermal projects has been the market success of solar PV. Prices for large-scale PV systems have dropped by more than half over the past five years. Factoring in the effect of solar tax credits, costs to the power purchaser are down even more. PV went from being a more expensive solar option for utilities to being the lower-cost and more flexible option. Current bids for utility-scale PV projects are in the range of 10 to 12 cents per kilowatt-hour, versus 14 to 17 cents for solar thermal. PV is also easier to site and finance, and can be cost-effectively deployed at moderate scale; e.g., 5-20 MW, if desired. (Several of the cancelled solar thermal projects were reengineered as PV projects, including the one planned for southern N.M., which turned into a 20 MW PV project that recently went online.)

The dramatic price drops for solar PV, along with PRC-directed incentive programs, have made it possible for over 2,000 New Mexico households, businesses, schools, and other electric customers to invest in their own distributed solar systems. PV prices will continue to decline as technological advances continue to come online and the markets continue to evolve. When I first heard about “grid-parity,” the levelized cost of a PV system for an electric customer reaching the cost of buying power from the utility, I was skeptical. But it’s a reality today in places with unusually high electricity prices like Hawaii, and within reach elsewhere for larger commercial customers, possibly as soon as five years or so.

In addition to moving us down the road toward a more environmentally sustainable energy supply, PRC policies supporting customer-sited distributed solar generation have also led to the development of a vibrant solar installation industry in the state, with many good-paying jobs. Competition between these companies, in turn, furthers our goals of continuing to bring down prices.

Individuals who follow the solar industry in NM know that since last year, the PRC has implemented mechanisms to reduce the per-kwh REC incentive rates for new customer-sited solar systems. (An important principle I have worked to sustain is that the economics should be locked in for existing systems once the owner has signed an REC contract with the utility.) Declining incentive rates are in recognition of the declining prices for new systems, and allow the Commission to incentivize more systems and more kilowatts for the same amount of money.

It’s also important to remember that the money for REC incentives, as well as for utility-sponsored renewable projects, comes out of electric rates charged to all customers. Thus far, we’ve been able to significantly advance solar in the state with an extremely modest impact on rates, which will begin showing up on bills in the next year or so at around 2%. Because we have been careful in calibrating solar REC incentives and other renewable-energy program expenditures, we’ve been able to support an aggressive rate of growth without creating a superheated, unsustainable situation. Over the next few years, we will still have headroom in terms of what New Mexicans are willing to invest to get a cleaner energy supply. We need to continue to support the dual tracks of customer-sited distributed generation and utility-scale renewable energy projects, including some new utility wind energy projects and some biomass and geothermal.

From time to time, I run in to people who believe the future should be entirely rooftop,-distributed solar —clean, locally controlled energy at lower costs because we’ve cut out the utility company. While I understand the ideals behind this vision, it’s frankly not realistic. To begin with, we are not going convince Americans to change their lifestyles so that we do all our TV watching, data processing and websurfing, washing, heating, cooling and every other energy intensive activity between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., and then only on sunny days! Customer-sited PV is a seamless solution because it is tied to the grid, with power being able to flow both ways, depending on production and consumption. Secondly, while the costs of using renewable energy and other strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to safe levels is not anywhere near as high as the partisan opponents of clean energy claim, we need to be honest that cleaning things up will increase our energy bills. In order to keep the cost impacts manageable, we need the economies of scale that utility-sized renewable energy projects bring. We also need utility-based projects in order to ensure that everyone is using clean energy, not just those who are willing and able to make their own investments. And, as discussed above, the solar thermal technologies with storage that we will most likely need if we want to take renewable energy from a side dish to our main energy course, are only practical at a large scale.

Of course, I could be wrong on this. Our long-term clean-energy solution could look different from what I envision. For the past six years, as a PRC commissioner, I’ve tried to chart a course to foster the technologies and industries that we are likely to need to transition away from fossil fuel dependency. My colleagues in many state legislatures, governors’ offices and utility commissions across the country have tried to do the same, with renewable portfolio standards and various technology preferences, like NM’s solar set-asides. These policies have successfully given us tens of thousands of megawatts of clean energy generation, advanced the technologies and reduced the costs and created green industries and green jobs.

But we need to move faster and in different ways in order to have a hope of mitigating the impending greenhouse gas-caused climate catastrophe. I’m convinced it’s time to put a price on greenhouse gas emissions and allow markets to find the best mix of solutions. This has to be done at an economy-wide level. My personal belief is that we’re better off with a simple tax-and-rebate approach, rather than a complex “cap and trade” system, with numerous loopholes and opportunities for financial traders to turn emissions trading into another Wall Street casino.

Because our problems are serious and urgent, we need to make the constraints on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions stringent enough to dramatically accelerate the deployment of GHG-free energy sources like solar, while forcing our nation’s fleet of conventional coal plants into retirement. I am confident that once the U.S. begins to capture the real costs of dirty fossil-fuel energy production, our abundant New Mexico solar and wind resources will be perfectly positioned to play a leading role in an environmentally sustainable and economically prosperous future.

Jason Marks is in his second term on the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission, where he has played a leading role in the implementation of the state’s renewable energy laws, as well as protecting consumers from millions of dollars in unjustified utility and telecom rate increases. Marks has a bachelor’s degree from Reed College and a law degree from the University of New Mexico.

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2,099 Work in NM Solar Industry

The Solar Foundation, a trade group representing solar power companies, reports that New Mexico has 2,099 people working in the industry, which puts the state No. 13 in the nation. The top 10 states in order were: California, Colorado, Arizona, Pennsylvania, New York, Florida, Texas, Oregon, New Jersey and Massachusetts. The foundation and Green LMI Consulting conducted the survey with help from Cornell University. The report may be viewed at www.thesolarfoundation.org.

Schott Solar Facility Achieves LEED Certification

Schott Solar, Inc. has achieved certification from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program for the company’s $100 million, 200,000 square-foot solar products manufacturing complex near Albuquerque.

The Albuquerque facility opened in 2009 and employs more than 300 local workers. It produces receivers used in parabolic trough, utility-scale and concentrated solar power plants (CSP), as well as receivers for CSP used alongside photovoltaic (PV) modules. Long-term plans call for the building to expand to 800,000 square feet with 1,500 employees, representing a total investment of $500 million.

REAP Grants Awarded

Santa Fe Brewing Company has received a $20,000 grant to offset the cost of installing a solar power system. The total cost of the project is $80,000. The grant was made through the USDA’s Rural Energy for American Program. The REAP Program helps farmers, ranchers and small businesses in rural America with grants and loan guarantees totaling up to 75% of the cost to install renewable energy systems and improve energy efficiency. The grant to SF Brewing will help pay for the installation of 90 solar panels. It is estimated that the company will see an energy saving of over a thousand dollars a month as a result of the new system, which was completed last month.

Blue Skies Consulting, an aviation photography company in Belen, has received more than $13,000 through REAP to offset the $54,000 cost of installing a new PV solar power system at its hangar at the Alexander Municipal Airport.

Positive Energy Appoints New CEO

Positive Energy has selected Regina Wheeler as its new Chief Executive Officer. Wheeler is leaving her position as Environmental Services Director for the city of Santa Fe. Prior to that she was the Environmental Services Manager for Los Alamos County.

Positive Energy is an employee-owned business established in 1997. The company has almost three million watts of solar power and more than 560 PV systems installed and serviced all over New Mexico. In September the company installed a new PV system at the Santa Fe Transit Division to power about 45% of the Transit Division’s energy needs. Positive Energy’s first Photovoltaic System Grant was recently awarded to the Santa Fe Girls’ School. A PV system valued at $15,000 was installed last month as part of a New Mexico Solar Energy Association class.

PNM’s Solar Storage System Online

On Sept. 24, with U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman and U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan in attendance, PNM dedicated the nation’s first solar storage facility that is fully integrated into a power grid.

The PNM Prosperity Energy Storage Project, located south of the Albuquerque International Sunport near Mesa Del Sol, is now online. The $8.7 million demonstration project adjacent to a 2,158-panel solar array can produce 500 kilowatts of power and uses high-tech batteries to create dispatchable energy, which smoothes the solar panels’ output. It is the first of 16 smart grid projects partially funded by stimulus monies to be fully operational.

Albuquerque-based Schott Solar manufactured the PV panels, and Cameron Swinerton and Positive Energy of Santa Fe constructed the array. Several components were first-time technology developed specifically for the project, which PNM is promoting as “a significant first step toward making renewable energy reliable energy.” The utility contributed $6 million to the project, and expects to recover its costs through a renewable energy rider to be filed this month.

Speakers at the dedication also included representatives from the U.S. Department of Energy, the University of New Mexico, Northern New Mexico College, Sandia National Laboratories and East Penn Manufacturing, who manufactured the 1,280 lead-acid batteries housed inside eight climate-controlled containers.

New Solar Arrays in New Mexico

Alamogordo Solar Project Completed

The fourth of five solar plants that PNM will complete this year to support the utility’s compliance with NM’s renewable portfolio standard was dedicated in Alamogordo on Oct. 20. Comprised of 78,000 panels that fill 50 acres, the Solar Energy Center can produce up to 5 megawatts on sunny days. It is expected to generate enough electricity to power over 1,600 average-sized NM homes over the course of a year. Construction of the project employed more than 100 locals, but it will not require ongoing full-time jobs.

PNM solar plants are currently also running in Albuquerque, Los Lunas and Deming. A Las Vegas, NM facility is to be completed by the end of the year. The five plants together are expected to produce 51 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually, enough to power 7,000 homes. They are projected to offset 44 million pounds of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of removing 4,500 cars from the road. PNM expects to have 47 megawatts of solar power on its system by the end of this year: 22 megawatts from the five solar plants and an additional 25 megawatts from customer-owned solar systems. The utility also has 200 megawatts of wind energy capacity from the NM Wind Energy Center, which was added to PNM’s system in 2003. New Mexico will require 15% of its electricity to come from renewable sources by 2015.

Smiths Food & Drug Stores

Another solar project recently completed is the installation of photovoltaic panels on two Albuquerque Smith’s Food & Drug Stores. The solar energy output from these two stores is 320,000-kilowatt hours combined, completely eliminating the need of fossil fuel sources. The systems on the roof of each store consist of 442 panels, which convert sunlight into DC power. A news release from the company says the energy savings from the two systems could heat and cool 30 homes in NM for one year; the equivalent of planting 57 acres of trees or removing 40 cars from the road. Affordable Solar installed the system. Smith’s has also launched energy conservation programs within all of the company’s 25 NM stores.

NRG Roadrunner at Full Capacity

NRG Solar’s 20-megawatt Roadrunner facility near the New Mexico border with Texas is now operating at full capacity. The facility uses groups of solar panels that track the sun’s movement. The facility sits on 210 acres of private land near El Paso, Texas. The electricity generated is being sold to El Paso Electric under the terms of a 20-year agreement.

Solar Power Plants in Lea and Eddy Counties

Three solar power plants that make up the 53.5-megawatt project overseen by SunEdison and Xcel Energy near Carlsbad, NM were activated on Sept. 22. The site will eventually include five solar plants and generate enough renewable energy to offset the carbon emissions of 288,000 cars after 20 years of production. The solar farm is expected to power over 186,000 average U.S. homes per year. It will be fully activated by the end of this year. The electricity generated will be sold to Southwestern Public Service Co., a subsidiary of Xcel Energy. Wells Fargo provided $200 million in financing.

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The Purpose Prize is a program of Civic Ventures’ Encore Careers campaign (www.encore.org), which aims to engage millions of boomers in encore careers combining personal meaning, continued income and social impact in the second half of life. Other 2011 winners are working to create jobs, help immigrants in the U.S. and improve the lives of orphans, women and children in China and Latin America. “Purpose Prize winners have one thing in common,” said Marc Freedman, CEO and founder of Civic Ventures and author of The Big Shift (PublicAffairs Books). “They— and millions of others in encore careers—are turning personal passions and decades of experience into invaluable contributions across sectors, continents and generations, often through entrepreneurship.”

Twenty-eight judges—leaders in business, politics, journalism and the nonprofit sector —chose the winners from a pool of more than 1,000 nominees. The five social entrepreneurs over 60 will receive $100,000 each “for using their experience and passion to make an extraordinary impact on some of society’s biggest challenges.”

The 2030 Challenge

Ed Mazria is an award-winning architect with a 40-year record of innovation and advocacy in sustainable building. Even he was surprised when, in 2002, his analysis of U.S. government data revealed that the building sector consumes nearly half of all energy production and causes about half of all greenhouse gas emissions each year. In 2003, Mazria founded Architecture 2030 to change that. The group issued the 2030 Challenge (www.architecture2030.org)—a set of benchmarks for reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in the built environment to “carbon neutral” by 2030— which was immediately adopted by the American Institute of Architects, U.S. Conference of Mayors, U.S. Green Building Council and the National Governors Association. Legislation followed.

The Seattle 2030 District

Last month the city of Seattle officially launched the Seattle 2030 District, a public-private collaboration to meet the 2030 Challenge. It is a groundbreaking high-performance building district in Downtown Seattle that aims to dramatically reduce environmental impacts of building construction and operations. The Seattle 2030 District Planning Committee is an interdisciplinary public-private partnership. Using the 2030 Challenge for Planning (issued by Architecture 2030 in 2008) as the foundation, the committee has sought to develop realistic, measurable and innovative strategies to assist district property owners, managers and tenants in meeting aggressive goals that reduce environmental impacts of facility construction and operations. The District was just chosen as one of three nationwide Community Partners with the White House’s Better Buildings Challenge. Mazria is working to get other cities like Cleveland to follow Seattle’s lead. The Seattle 2030 District will be the first of numerous 2030 Districts that will be emerging around the nation and the world.

Mazria is planning on reinvesting his Purpose Prize money into Architecture 2030’s current initiatives. They include:

The 2030 Palette

Mazria will soon release the 2030 Palette, a set of comprehensive guiding principles and strategies for creating sustainable-built environments. It will be translated into multiple languages for application anywhere in the world.

The AIA + 2030 Professional Education Series

The AIA + 2030 Series program is the result of a partnership between the American Institute of Architects Seattle, Architecture 2030, BetterBricks, and the City of Seattle. AIA Seattle and Architecture 2030 are now bringing the Series to other AIA chapters nationwide.

The 2030 Challenge for Products

The 2030 Challenge for Products aims for the global architecture, planning, design, building and manufacturing community to specify, design and manufacture products for new developments, buildings and renovations to meet a maximum carbon-equivalent footprint of 30% below the product category average through 2014—increasing this reduction to 35% in 2015, 40% in 2020, 45% in 2025, and 50% by 2030.

The 2030 Challenge for Products Information Hub was developed in partnership with BuildingGreen and the Healthy Building Network, with support from a host of industry leaders. It officially launched last month.

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Shrayas Jatkar and Tammy Fiebelkorn

Rational and sane policymaking is like an endangered species in today’s hostile, polarized political climate, at the national level as well as in New Mexico under Governor Susana Martinez. Sadly, this means that commonsense rules, like energy-saving building codes for new construction, are under attack after years of hard work to develop the best safeguards for New Mexico.

Energy-saving building codes can help New Mexico save consumers money on their electric and gas bills, improve public health by cleaning up the air we breathe and meet the challenges of climate change. But earlier this year, the Construction Industries Commission appointed by Gov. Martinez scrapped the statewide energy conservation building code that was adopted by their predecessors in 2010, before it went into effect. While challenging this ill-advised decision in the New Mexico Court of Appeals, proponents of energy efficiency are now battling to maintain Albuquerque’s city building code, which has been in place since December 2009.

Albuquerque City Councilors Trudy Jones and Dan Lewis introduced a bill on Aug. 1 to scrap the 2009 Albuquerque Energy Conservation Code (AECC) and replace it with the state’s energy-wasting code that has yet to be finalized. That’s right, the City Council is considering adopting a building code that hasn’t even been finalized! Councilor Jones managed to pull the bill from the Land Use, Planning and Zoning Committee (LUPZ), and the misguided measure is now before the full City Council. A final vote on the bill was scheduled for Oct. 17, but it will be deferred until Dec. 5 when an updated Economic Impact Analysis is completed.

Maintaining Albuquerque’s 2009 energy code is essential for all Albuquerque residents, not just tenants of new buildings, who will enjoy lower monthly electric and gas bills. By cutting both overall and peak demand on the PNM electricity generation system, all ratepayers benefit from energy conservation codes. Energy-saving codes also reduce the need for utilities to build expensive new power plants, acting as an insurance policy against future rate hikes.

Energy-saving building codes also make homes and apartments more affordable for residents, by lowering building operating costs. This is especially important for low-income households and seniors on fixed incomes, who cannot afford higher energy bills. We saw the terrible consequences when people are unable to afford to heat or cool their homes during extreme weather, in February of this year when temperatures reached record lows.

Energy-efficient commercial buildings would also give businesses a competitive advantage over others saddled by excessive energy costs, freeing up more money to invest in communities and in creating jobs. Businesses could spend more of their hard-earned revenue on training and hiring employees, buying equipment, contracting with other businesses for services—core business expenses that are vital to economic growth for our city.

With the rates for electricity and natural gas on the rise, Albuquerque’s energy conservation code prepares the city for the future and provides us with a strong return on the up-front investment in energy efficiency.

It makes no sense to scrap the Albuquerque code for the state plan, given that the 2009 template for energy codes is outdated and will need to be updated in 2012. The 2012 national standard for energy conservation codes reaches the same level of energy savings as Albuquerque’s code: 30 percent more energy-efficient than the baseline code. If Albuquerque scraps its current code, only to revise it to return to the same level of energy savings within a short time, that would put Albuquerque builders on a rollercoaster ride and cause massive confusion in the construction industries.

Currently, Albuquerque’s energy-saving building code is an asset and an opportunity for local economic development. We are in an excellent position to build a “green building materials” industry that can supply builders with energy-efficient windows, doors and insulation that meet Albuquerque’s code. When other states and locales adopt the 2012 IECC, they could turn to Albuquerque for the energy-efficient products and supplies.

Mayor Berry and City Councilors Trudy Jones and Dan Lewis’ attempt to roll back the 2009 Albuquerque Energy Conservation Code is a capitulation to special interests. For the majority of Albuquerque homeowners, residents, commercial building tenants, and businesses, there is no good reason to follow Gov. Martinez’s backwards march to scrap common-sense energy-saving building codes.

Join us in defending Albuquerque’s energy conservation code and preparing Albuquerque to be a leader in an energy-efficient, 21^st century economy.

Call City Council President Don Harris (505.768.3123) and urge him to vote NO on scrapping the 2009 Albuquerque Energy Conservation Code.

Shrayas Jatkar is with the Sierra Club’s field office in Albuquerque, NM (505.243.7767, (shrayas.jatkar@sierraclub.org) and Tammy Fiebelkorn is with e Solved, Inc. (505.410.3884,( tammy@e-solved.com).

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