Committing to Renewables in New Mexico

The Union of Concerned Scientists argues that New Mexico should strengthen its renewable portfolio standard (RPS) to 80 percent by 2040 to ensure a cost-effective transition from coal to clean energy. Modeling shows that renewables are the most economically favorable choice, offering significant capital investment, job growth, and public health benefits without substantially increasing consumer electricity costs. The report warns against utility plans to overinvest in natural gas, which could lead to stranded assets and higher climate risks.

• New Mexico possesses vast renewable energy potential; a 2016 NREL analysis indicated the state could develop enough cost-competitive renewables to meet over 260 percent of its annual electricity sales at prices equal to or lower than current electricity rates.
• Strengthening the RPS to 80 percent by 2040 would drive significant capital investment, totaling $7.2 billion between 2017 and 2040. From 2017 to 2030 alone, this would include $4.7 billion in wind, $1.2 billion in distributed solar, and $158 million in utility-scale solar.
• A high-renewables pathway would support substantial employment growth through 2030, including an average of over 1,800 annual direct, indirect, and induced jobs in construction and installation, and 940 annual jobs related to transmission line development.
• The transition to a strengthened RPS has minimal impact on residential electricity costs. By 2030, costs would be approximately 0.2 percent higher (15 cents per month) than the baseline, and by 2040, they would be 0.24 percent lower (17 cents per month) due to reduced fuel spending.
• Phasing out coal and increasing renewables would drastically reduce pollutants and carbon emissions. CO2 emissions are projected to drop from over 22.8 million metric tons in 2016 to 3.42 million metric tons by 2030 under a strengthened RPS, while the power sector's annual water consumption could decrease by nearly 90 percent, saving over 12.3 billion gallons.
• The report warns that utilities, specifically the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM), are proposing to overinvest in natural gas capacity, which may be unnecessary and could result in stranded assets or increased consumer and climate risks.

APA

Anair, D., & Mahmassani, A. (2017). Committing to Renewables in New Mexico. Union of Concerned Scientists. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2017/10/Committing-to-renewables-in-new-Mexico-2017.pdf

Chicago

Anair, Don, and Amine Mahmassani. Committing to Renewables in New Mexico. Union of Concerned Scientists, 2017. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2017/10/Committing-to-renewables-in-new-Mexico-2017.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Anair |first1=Don |last2=Mahmassani |first2=Amine |title=Committing to Renewables in New Mexico |publisher=Union of Concerned Scientists |date=October 2017 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2017/10/Committing-to-renewables-in-new-Mexico-2017.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{anair2017committing, author = {Anair, Don and Mahmassani, Amine}, title = {{Committing to Renewables in New Mexico}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2017}, month = oct, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2017/10/Committing-to-renewables-in-new-Mexico-2017.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }