Jason Marks Commissioner, NM PRC May 21, 2010 New Mexico Regulatory Context Southwest Renewable Energy Transmission Conference

Wind projects in NM or serving NM

El Paso Electric/eSolar 92 MW CSP mini-tower TriState/FirstSolar 30 MW PV in Colfax County Kit Carson 1 MW DG/ 1MW CPV SPS/Sun Edison 5 x 10 MW PV (pending PRC approval) PNM/FirstSolar 22 MW Dist. PV TriState/DOE Solar preheat demo at Escalante Utility-Scale Solar Projects in N.M.

Supporting Distributed Generation: customer-owned PV incentive programs

New Mexico Renewable Energy Act: NMSA § A Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) Law R.E.: solar, wind, biomass, geothermal Scope: IOUs, Co-ops (lower requirement) RPS 5% of retail sales in % of retail sales in % in 2015, 20% in 2020 Reasonable Cost Thresholds Annual Procurement Plans Resource Diversity Rules: 20% Solar 1.5% - 3% Distributed Generation

NM: Aggressive Targets / Small State

NMPRC: Weak Jurisdiction over Transmission NMSA § , Location Control –Approval required for gen. plants >= 300 MW –Approval required for 230 kV and above transmission lines “constructed in connection with and to transmit electricity from a new plant for which approval is required” –Not unduly impair important environmental values –For line w/ jurisdiction, PRC can overrule local gov’t on all questions of siting, land use, aesthetics and any other state or local reqmts. –Six month clock