SENATE MEMORIAL 54

50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2011

INTRODUCED BY

David Ulibarri

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE ENERGY, MINERALS AND NATURAL RESOURCES DEPARTMENT TO CONVENE A TECHNICAL COMMITTEE TO STUDY NEW MEXICO'S CURRENT AND FUTURE ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS AND REQUESTING THE TECHNICAL COMMITTEE TO IDENTIFY AN APPROPRIATE STRATEGY TO ADDRESS KEY BARRIERS TO ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION DEVELOPMENT IN FURTHERANCE OF ENABLING NEW MEXICO TO REALIZE ITS ENERGY DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL AND TO DRIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.

     WHEREAS, the development of energy resources to generate electricity will breathe new life into rural New Mexico through job creation, job training programs and financial investment; and

     WHEREAS, responsible energy resource development presents opportunities to promote energy self-sufficiency and economic development while protecting New Mexico's environment; and

     WHEREAS, responsible energy resource development will require construction of extra-high voltage transmission lines to move power over large geographical distances from remote locations to consumers; and

     WHEREAS, transmission projects of this nature provide improved system reliability, improved infrastructure for economic development and enhanced diversity of power generation technologies that lead to lower or stabilized energy costs; and

     WHEREAS, the New Mexico statute that creates the New Mexico renewable energy transmission authority requires the authority to plan, finance, build and operate new electricity transmission lines and energy storage projects; and

     WHEREAS, Senate Memorial 44, passed in the first session of the forty-ninth legislature in 2009, requested the board of the New Mexico renewable energy transmission authority to identify renewable energy resource zones and potential corridors to accommodate those identified zones; and

     WHEREAS, in order to ensure the long-term reliability of New Mexico's bulk power system and to advance the energy policy goals of the state, a workable mechanism is needed to identify, allocate and recover costs, determine appropriate sites, obtain necessary permits and construct electrical transmission in a coordinated fashion; and

     WHEREAS, transmission planning processes in the state must ensure open, nondiscriminatory transmission service for all generators, and consumers and must be coordinated with regional transmission planning; and

     WHEREAS, such transmission planning processes will help to resolve transmission queue delays and bring energy generation online, thereby promoting economic development; and

     WHEREAS, transmission planning processes in the state should provide for clear cost allocation policies for new transmission investment; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico is looking to a regional market in which to sell its excess energy; and

     WHEREAS, a regional transmission organization is a federally regulated, independent, nonprofit entity established to plan and operate the regional transmission assets under its functional control and provide nondiscriminatory wholesale transmission service within its defined geographic region; and

     WHEREAS, regional transmission organizations and similarly structured organizations have worked to facilitate the identification and build-out of transmission infrastructure outside of the state; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico has compelling reasons to assess the impact on the state of three options for statewide independent planning and functional control of transmission assets, including joining an existing regional transmission organization, forming a new regional transmission organization or contracting for regional transmission organization services; and

     WHEREAS, the state also has compelling reasons to study the criteria and mechanisms necessary for cost recovery with respect to planned transmission infrastructure and to identify how a regional transmission organization would protect consumers and the environment and facilitate economic development in New Mexico;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the energy, minerals and natural resources department be requested to convene a technical committee to study New Mexico's current and future electrical transmission infrastructure needs, to identify an appropriate strategy to address key barriers to electrical transmission development to enable New Mexico to realize its energy development potential and to drive economic development; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the executive director of the New Mexico renewable energy transmission authority or the executive director's designee be requested to chair the technical committee; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the technical committee membership include one representative designated by the governor, one representative designated by the speaker of the house of representatives, one representative designated by the president pro tempore of the senate, one member representing the public regulation commission, one member representing the electric utility industry, one member representing an independent transmission company, one member representing an alternative electric supplier or independent power producer, one member representing a wind energy association, one member representing a statewide environmental organization, one member representing the public at large, one member representing the oil and gas industry and one member representing the solar industry; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the technical committee consider at least three options for an independent, nonprofit entity to plan and operate the regional transmission assets under its functional control and provide nondiscriminatory wholesale transmission service within its defined geographic region, including:

          A. all New Mexico public utilities joining an existing regional transmission organization that is contiguous with the state;

          B. all New Mexico public utilities forming a New Mexico-based regional transmission organization; and

          C. all New Mexico public utilities contracting with a third-party transmission coordinator to functionally control their transmission systems; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the technical committee study and evaluate the following specific criteria for each option:           A. the cost to the state and its stakeholders, including rate payers, government agencies, independent power producers and public utilities;

          B. the benefits to the state, including potential job creation, environmental impact, enhanced resource development, a more efficient regional planning process and improved ability to coordinate transmission development with the state's energy vision;

          C. the benefits of a centralized tariff administration, more transparent transmission scheduling and posting, congestion management, market monitoring, transmission planning, expansion and interregional coordination, ancillary services management and parallel path flow management;

          D. the impact to each public utility's interconnection queue;

          E. the impact on each public utility's wholesale operations;

          F. the benefit of creating more robust interstate energy markets; and

          G. any other costs and benefits appropriate to consider with respect to these options; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the executive director of the New Mexico renewable energy transmission authority submit a report summarizing the findings, conclusions and recommendations of the technical committee report to the governor and the legislature no later than November 15, 2011; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the governor, the secretary of energy, minerals, and natural resources, the executive director of the New Mexico renewable energy transmission authority and the members of New Mexico's congressional delegation.

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