Eighteen Legislators Join Me in Critical Renewable Energy Filing

Today I, along with eighteen other legislators from both chambers, filed an important legal brief with the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission in support of renewable energy in New Mexico. You can view the brief here:

PRC Brief
In this brief, we argue that the renewable energy financing mechanism called a third-party arrangement is legal under New Mexico law. This is important because there is an effort underway to ban such arrangements, which would devastate the growing renewable energy industry in New Mexico and would severely hamper the ability of companies like Sun Edison to do business in New Mexico.

Third-party arrangements help cities, churches and non-profits (entities that cannot take advantage of tax incentive that support renewable energy because these entities do not have tax liabilities) deploy renewable energy generation. The arrangement allows a company to install solar systems at a customer's location while maintaining ownership of the system. In the arrangement, the third-party owner installs, owns, operates and maintains the PV system, charges the customer for the system based on kilowatt hours (kWhs) produced and receives the benefits of owning the system, including state and federal tax credits, depreciation, tax incentives and private investor-owned utility (IOU) cash incentives. The third-party ownership PPA model is fast becoming "the financing method of choice" in many states because of the low or no initial investment cost to the customer. (See Frantzis, L., "Photovoltaics Business Models", National Renewable Energy Laboratory Subcontract Report 581-42304, February 2008.).

In the ongoing effort to support and extend the reach of solar, this case will me a major milestone. Please stay tuned.

The legislators who signed on to my brief are:

The Honorable Ben R. Lujan
Speaker of the House, District 46

The Honorable Mary Jane Garcia
Senate Majority Whip, District 36

The Honorable Sheryl Williams-Stapleton
House Majority Whip, District 19

The Honorable Carlos Cisneros
New Mexico Senator, District 6

The Honorable Nathan Cote
New Mexico Representative, District 53

The Honorable Dede Feldman
New Mexico Senator, District 13

The Honorable Steven Fischmann
New Mexico Senator, District 37

The Honorable Timothy Keller
New Mexico Senator, District 17

The Honorable Lynda Lovejoy
New Mexico Senator, District 22

The Honorable Antonio Lujan
New Mexico Representative, District 35

The Honorable Roger Madalena
New Mexico Representative, District 65

The Honorable Antonio Maestas
New Mexico Representative, District 16

The Honorable Cisco McSorley
New Mexico Senator, District 16

The Honorable Jerry Ortiz y Pino
New Mexico Senator, District 12

The Honorable Benjamin Rodefer
New Mexico Representative, District 23

The Honorable Sander Rue
New Mexico Senator, District 23

The Honorable Jeff Steinborn
New Mexico Representative, District 37

The Honorable Mimi Stewart
New Mexico Representative, District 21

Governor Signs HB 572 - Solar Financing Bill Becomes Law!

Today, at the Santa Fe Community College's Biomass-powered heating facility, Governor Richardson signed HB 572, my solar financing bill. It was a terrific event at which the Governor also signed a broad range of clean energy bills that encourage development of new renewable energy technologies, incentivize the hiring of new employees for green-collar jobs, and allow counties to issue bonds to pay for new training programs in the renewable energy industry.

Here is the Governor signing the bill:


Here the Governor gives me the pen he used to sign the bill:


Now, the effort moves to the county governments, who must use these new tools to implement solar financing programs.

Discussing the Solar Revolution on KNME

On Friday, I appeared on KNME Channel 5 (our NM PBS station) to discuss solar energy and the big changes our legislative session made to the solar landscape. I spoke about my solar finance bill, HB 572, and about solar gaining wider adopting and recognition as a cost-effective means of generating electricity.

You may find the video by clicking HERE. If you would like to skip to the segment where I appear, click the progress bar at the bottom of the viewer to 16:25.

Solar Financing Bill Passes Senate Unanimously!

Great news! Just a few minutes ago, the New Mexico Senate passed HB 572, my solar financing bill, unanimously on a vote of 35-0. The bill can be found HERE.

The bill now goes to the Governor.

Thanks to all of you who have supported me in this effort!

Solar Financing Bill Advances in the Senate

This morning, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 10-0 to send House Bill 572 to the Senate Finance Committee. With less than a week to go, the bill has to clear one more committee and pass the Senate floor. It may not seem like much time, but in the Round House, a lot can happen in only six days.

Winding Up or Winding Down?

We have two weeks to go and a great deal of work left to do but here are a few of the things that happened this past week.

How the Process Alters a Bill

HB 572 “Solar Energy Improvement Special Assessments Act” was passed by of the House on Thursday on a vote of 55-7. We now wait for its first Senate hearing to be scheduled in the Judiciary Committee.

There were a few subtle changes to the bill during its progress through the House. The Business and Industry Committee submitted a substitute for the original bill, which added a stipulation to limit the bill to counties with populations between 135,000 and 450,000. It also specified a 10% maximum amount to be attached to the assessment to cover the county’s administrative costs. Language was added in the committee substitute to make it explicit that the county did not become liable in any way for the debt of the property owner.

Then the Taxation and Revenue Committee also amended the bill to strike the language limiting the eligibility to residential property owners and instead opening eligibility to all private landowners. They further amended the bill by adding a provision to limit the lien amount to no more than the amount of the Solar Energy Improvement Special Assessment.

When HB 572 came to the House floor on Thursday, I introduced an amendment, which effectively removed the county-size specification, opening participation to all counties. The amendment was adopted and the bill passed with minimal debate.

My thanks to all of you who attended hearings and showed your support on behalf of this important bill. I will try to keep you informed about committee hearings in the Senate as we try to move this bill as quickly as possible.

Childhood Cancer Therapy

While HB 365, the Insurance for Cancer Therapy for Children Bill, passed the Health & Government Affairs Committee a few weeks ago, it was unfortunately tabled in Business & Industry Committee over the weekend. I will continue to advocate for our children in the future and find ways to support the healthcare coverage for our most vulnerable populations, especially for children fighting cancer.

Surface Owners Notice Bill

While I am unhappy that the Free Market in Energy Restoration Act (HB 219) died in the House Judiciary Committee this week, I feel that we did a great deal to further the issue this session. We fought hard for surface owners and I view this as a temporary setback. I will continue to work with community organizations to address the split estate problem both here in New Mexico and across the West. I also plan to reintroduce this legislation at a future legislative session.

Solar Financing Bill Passes the House 55-7

This morning, the New Mexico House of Representatives passed HB 572, my solar financing bill, on a vote of 55-7.

The vote was bipartisan.

Now, we are off to the Senate.