New Mexico Energy Efficiency Strategy: Policy Options

Albuquerque, New Mexico, seen from the Northeast with Intersection of I-25 and I-40 in the foreground and Rio Grande in the background, Wikipedia, December 1, 2006.

The State of New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (NMEMNRD) has just released a new 152-page report, "New Mexico Energy Efficiency Strategy: Policy Options" and Summary.

The report was prepared for the NMEMNRD, Ken Hughes, Project Coordinator, by the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project, ETC Group, LLC, and the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

Those working at the state and local levels might want to obtain this document for reference in anticipation of rapid upgrades of the New Mexico statewide building code and upgrades in other states as well. For example, the Buildings and Appliances Policies options in the report include a recommendation to upgrade the New Mexico statewide building code toward greater energy efficiency in 2009 and every three years after that.

"The New Mexico Energy Efficiency Strategy contains 25 major policies, programs, or initiatives that could be implemented in order to accelerate energy efficiency improvements in the state and achieve the goals where possible. The policies save electricity, natural gas, or gasoline. These energy sources account for 77 percent of primary energy consumption in the state and 65 percent of energy consumption on a secondary (site) basis."

The 10 highest priorities in the report are these:

"Among the 25 options developed in this report, we suggest that 10 be viewed as high priority by the Governor, the Legislature, the Public Regulation Commission, and other key decision makers. These options provide the greatest energy savings and consequently the bulk of the economic and environmental benefits."

Expand Electric Utility Demand-Side Management Programs

Adopt Decoupling or Shareholder Incentives to Stimulate Greater Utility Support for Energy Efficiency Improvements

Expand Natural Gas Utility Energy Efficiency Programs

Upgrade Building Energy Codes and Fund Code Training and Enforcement

Expand Retrofit of Homes Occupied by Low-Income Families

Undertake an Industry Challenge and Recognition Program

Increase Energy Efficiency in the Oil and Gas Sector

Adopt Energy Efficiency Requirements for Public Colleges and Universities and Extend the Requirements for State Agencies

Reduce Per Capita Vehicle Use

Implement a Broad-Based Public Education Campaign

The report – unlike many proposals that miss or downplay the connection between energy generation and water use -- considers impacts on limited and declining water supply in New Mexico and the American Southwest:

“There also will be significant water savings, particularly from options that result in reduced operation of fossil-fuel based power plants because these plants consume sizable amounts of water in their cooling systems. We estimate that the options taken together will lower water consumption in power plants by approximately 3.65 billion gallons per year in 2020. This is equivalent to the annual water use of 60,000 typical Albuquerque [New Mexico] citizens. There will be additional water savings from increased adoption of energy and water-conserving devices such as resource-efficient clothes washers and dishwashers.”

The report concludes:

“By 2020, electricity use [in New Mexico] could be reduced by 24 percent, natural gas use by nearly 20 percent, and gasoline use by 26 percent, all in comparison to otherwise forecasted levels of per capita energy use that year.”

Geothermal Energy In The USA

Mammoth Pacific, LP Geothermal Power Facilities near Mammoth Lakes, Mono County, California with Sierra Nevada Mountains Forming the Horizon.

I call your attention to a status report on USA geothermal energy by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology originally released to the public on January 22, 2007.

More interesting is the impact of the report considered below by Professor Margot Gerritsen of the Department of Energy Resources Engineering at Stanford University. The report illuminates Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) that might be constructed in many USA locations. This technology depends upon large amounts of water or another fluid plus rock fracturing at depth among other major issues in EGS power plant siting and construction.

See a video on the status and future of USA geothermal energy produced by KQED Public Media for Northern California. The video focuses on The Geysers geothermal power plant operated by Calpine and vividly illustrates the infrastructure, energy generation processes, associated environmental problems, and other features of a geothermal power facility.

Dr. Gerritsen together with an Advisory Board provide an outstanding web site called "Smart Energy" containing abundant information to answer practical questions about our energy future.


The Future of Geothermal Energy in the US: what a little report can do...

Wed, 11/19/2008 - 03:35 — Margot Gerritsen

Two years ago, the future of geothermal energy in the USA did not look all that exciting. Although geothermal heat pumps (used for heating and cooling buildings) and natural geothermal energy were certainly not uncommon, very large scale geothermal, which draws heat energy from deep down in the earth's crust, seemed far in the future.

But then, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) published an exciting report titled "The Future of Geothermal Energy" with subtitle "Impact of Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) on the United States in the 21st Century". This changed the scene. The report got the attention of policy makers as well as investors, EGS received enough capital to start several new projects, and suddenly it became a potentially important future energy source. I wished that more scientific reports had such a positive outcome!

To date there are 18 natural geothermal facilities in the United States in California, Nevada, Hawaii and Utah. In total, they supply around 2,700 megawatts (MW) of electricity. A decent amount when viewed by itself. One (1) MW can be seen to supply electricity to about 1000 homes, so 2,700 MW delivers enough energy for 2.7 million households. It is not that much as compared to the total geothermal capacity of the US which is around 1.1 million (1,100,000) MW. However, in California, geothermal energy supplies 5% of total electricity demand and 7% of that in Northern California, which boasts the site of The Geysers, at 620 MW the largest geothermal powerplant in the world. Apart from these 18 geothermal plants, the USA has more than 1 million geothermal heatpumps, supplying an additional 3700 MW for heating and cooling.


Geothermal energy is not completely clean. Subsurface water, which is brought to the surface, can contain some carbon dioxide, for example, but it is a minor problem. It is estimated that a geothermal plants emits about 1/200 of the carbon dioxide of an equivalent coal-fired power plant.

The geothermal story gets much more interesting when we look at geothermal heat contained between 3 and 10 kilometer depth, which EGS taps into. The total energy in this layer is staggering. Just producing 1% of this energy would supply 1400 times the total energy that the USA needs per year! So, how can we tap into this resource? The idea is simple: we drill down to a depth at which the rocks are sufficiently hot (say 150-250 degrees centigrade). It is not a simple task to drill through hard granite to a depth of 20,000 feet, say, but in the oil industry we do this on a regular basis and so the technology exists. Then, we fracture the rock over a reasonably large area. We drill another well a bit removed from the first. This second well will serve as our production well. The first is used to pump water, or another liquid, into the rocks under high pressure. It will start moving through the fractures to the producing well under a pressure gradient. As it moves, it picks up heat from the surrounding rock. We then pump it back to the surface, extract the heat, and reinject the new cool liquid again. Sounds easy enough, and it certainly sounds like a great idea to tap into that huge heat reservoir down below.

EGS is not without its complications, of course. It is not trivial to create a good fracture system down below. We need to have a very large network of fractures so that the water that flows through this network touches a lot of the rock for better and prolonged heat transfer. Also, to make this economic, an EGS well must pump through at a rate of, say, 80 liters per second, the equivalent of 50,000 barrels per day. This has not yet been achieved in pilot tests.

However, EGS is certainly a promising technique. Estimates are that if it can be done at the high rate mentioned, then within 5-10 years a typical EGS project can be cost competitive in the current energy market of around 5 US cents per kilowatthour of energy. Not bad, huh! With sufficient investments, experts claim that we could produce around 30 times as much geothermal energy by 2030 as we do now, supplying around 5-10% of the electricity needs of the US in 2030. A substantial contribution. I think we should go for it. And I'm delighted that this MIT report established so much. It has pushed this energy technology forward at a much faster rate than I thought possible.

Signet Solar Plans Large Solar Panel Facility In New Mexico

SunPower/Johnson & Johnson Ground-Mounted 739-kilowatt Solar Power System, New Jersey, USA.

Signet Solar, an international company with USA corporate headquarters in Menlo Park, California, will open a solar panel production facility in New Mexico in 2010. The company will produce large area, thin-film silicon photovoltaic modules for commercial rooftop and ground-mounted solar power systems.

Ground-mounted solar power systems are an important and growing contribution to distributed generation (DG). Ground-mounted systems are much more economical to install than rooftop systems, and can be integrated into communities and/or the existing power grid everywhere. A video by Applied Materials, a global company with corporate headquarters in Santa Clara, California, illustrates installation of a 10-megawatt (MW) ground-mounted solar power system in Germany.

Signet Solar plans an initial annual production of 65 megawatts (MW) growing to 300 MW per year, and creating 200 high-wage jobs growing to 600 as the New Mexico facility expands.


Renewable Energy World/Signet Solar/New Mexico

December 18, 2008

Signet Solar to Build 300-MW Production Facility in New Mexico

New Mexico, United States [RenewableEnergyWorld.com]

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson announced that Signet Solar will build the company's first North American solar panel production facility in Belen, New Mexico. The first phase of the plant will bring 200 high-wage jobs to the state and is scheduled to begin operations in 2010. Signet's long-term plans call for expansion and the creation of a total of 600 jobs.

“As Governor, I’ve been dedicated to making New Mexico a national leader of renewable energy and the creation of green jobs,” Richardson said. “At a time of economic uncertainty, this project will create hundreds of jobs and reaffirm New Mexico as a clean energy state and major player in our nation’s effort build a new clean energy economy.”



The Signet Solar facility will produce large area thin-film silicon photovoltaic modules for commercial rooftop and ground mounted solar power systems. The first phase of the plant will have an annual production capacity of 65 megawatts (MW). Long-term plans call to increase production capacity to 300 MW per year with a 600,000 square foot production facility.



“New Mexico was an obvious starting point for Signet Solar’s expansion into the growing US renewable energy market,” said Rajeeva Lahri, Signet Solar’s Co-Founder and CEO. “Under Governor Richardson’s leadership, New Mexico has demonstrated commitment to renewable energy through public-private partnerships, leveraging its skilled workforce and world class research institutions.”

RenewableEnergyWorld.com's Stephen Lacey talked with Dr. Keshav Prasad, vice president of business development for Signet Solar about the Applied Materials' SunFab line it uses for production and the company's growth plans at Solar Power International in October.

Applied Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMAT) is the global leader in Nanomanufacturing Technology™ solutions with a broad portfolio of innovative equipment, service and software products for the fabrication of semiconductor chips, flat panel displays, solar photovoltaic cells, flexible electronics and energy efficient glass.

New Mexico: The Land Of Windchantment

Windpower Turbines and Pawnee Grasslands, Eastern Colorado, Flickr, August 24, 2008.

Robert Foster, Program Manager for the Institute for Energy and Environment and an Associate Director in the College of Agriculture at New Mexico State University, offers an overview of wind power projects and plans for the State of New Mexico. The article is heavily referenced with major players in the wind power industry including wind energy providers, real estate and investment companies, New Mexico State University and New Mexico government. International and out-of-state heavy hitters include Edison International, Shell, FPL Energy, Babcock & Brown, Acciona, and Texas Wind Power.

Although the bulk of wind farm development to date in the USA is occurring on privately owned lands, the article emphasizes the potential role of public lands in New Mexico, especially with respect to transmission line routing. Private landowners are collaborating to gain stronger negotiating positions with wind power developers.

As in virtually all overviews of this type, power transmission is posed as a major issue for wind farm development. Note also the emphasis on New Mexico's role as a renewable energy provider for California and Arizona to assist those states in meeting their Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPSs).

New Mexico created the Renewable Energy Transmission Authority to facilitate expansion of the transmission grid in the state. "There are two large-scale transmission proposals under consideration: SunZia Southwest Transmission and the High Plains Express Transmission; both of which are designed to bring power to the large urban markets in Phoenix and Los Angeles."

New Mexico ranks 12th among USA states in wind power potential with about 50,000 megawatts [MW] of identified wind energy resources.


Renewable Energy World/New Mexico State University

December 11, 2008

New Mexico, Land of Windchantment

by Robert Foster, NMSU

New Mexico, United States [RenewableEnergyWorld.com]

New Mexico, nicknamed the Land of Enchantment, is rapidly becoming the "Land of Windchantment." There is a veritable wind land rush taking place in the state, with a plethora of wind developers signing wind power leases with ranchers across the eastern plains.

New Mexico is ranked 12th nationally in terms of wind energy potential, with about 50,000 megawatts (MW) of identified resource according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). By coincidence, the state is also ranked 12th in the U.S. for wind farm installations, with a total of 497 MW of installed capacity. Edison Mission Group (EMG) is now in the process of developing the 100-MW High Lonesome Mesa Wind Farm in eastern New Mexico using Clipper turbines.

New Mexico has the highest per capita wind energy usage of any state in the country, and Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) has one of the highest percentages of wind grid penetration of any utility, with about four percent of its annual energy production coming from wind. And at times, as much as 20 percent of the load is carried by wind when it's really blowing.

Besides the clean power benefits, the other big advantage of wind power is that it does not require water for power generation, which for the arid Southwest is always a critical issue.

There are more than two dozen active wind developers in New Mexico. The existing windfarms were developed by Cielo Wind Power, a subsidiary of Texas Wind Power, FPL Energy, Babcock and Brown and Padoma Wind Power, with power from wind being sold to Xcel Energy, Arizona Public Service and Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM).

Windy land in New Mexico is becoming a highly sought after commodity as wind developers sign leases with hundreds of landowners. Shell Wind Energy and First Wind have already signed agreements with landowners in central New Mexico near Corona.

Energy Resources has purchased large tracts of land near Santa Rosa. GreenHunter Wind Energy and Penn Real Estate have also signed wind leases. Other companies active with New Mexico wind energy exploration and development include Acciona, Clipper, enXco, DKRW/Carbon Neutral, GEC, Gold Pact Power, Iberdrola, Invenergy, Horizon Wind Energy and Taos Wind Power

The New Mexico State University Institute for Energy and the Environment is monitoring the wind resource on lands owned by the University, as well as NASA and Fort Bliss.

New Mexicans have, so far, looked favorably on wind power development as it is clean power, provides local jobs and increases the tax base. New Mexico ranchers already receive about US $1.8 million/year for leasing their lands to existing wind farms. In general, ranchers have had very few issues with placing wind turbines on their land because the footprint of the wind farm including roads takes up only about 10 percent of the total land area leaving most of the ranch available for livestock or crops.

The main concern that ranchers have expressed relates to the restoration of any land that is disturbed during the construction of the wind farm and the request that service roads and noxious weeds be kept to a minimum.

Apparently, New Mexico cows like wind turbines as they can often be found lining up for the only shade available on the plains from the wind turbine towers to escape the summer heat.

Some New Mexico landowners have grouped together for a stronger negotiating position with wind developers, an example being the Corona Landowners Association (South and North groups), which hold together hundreds of thousands of acres. Most New Mexicans realize the importance of developing clean renewable energy resources and the need for energy independence.

Transmission Stands in the Way

Electric transmission is the greatest challenge for wind farm development in the Southwest and major transmission development will be required in order to fully tap New Mexico's wind power potential.

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has been very supportive of new wind farm development and in building new transmission to serve the power markets. To this end, last year the state created the Renewable Energy Transmission Authority (NMRETA) to help facilitate expansion of the transmission grid in the state for development of wind and other renewable resources.

RETA has begun to explore several opportunities and specific proposals. There are two large-scale transmission proposals under consideration: SunZia Southwest Transmission and the High Plains Express Transmission; both of which are designed to bring power to the large urban markets in Phoenix and Los Angeles.

Since about half of New Mexican land is owned by the federal government, agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) often play a key role when it comes to wind farm and transmission development.

There are over 8,000 MW of proposed wind projects in New Mexico that have been submitted for transmission planning to PNM. Of course, not all of these proposals will bear fruit, but if only a quarter are successful, that represents over 2,000 MW of new wind generation the will be coming online during the next decade.

To put this in perspective, PNM currently has about 2,300 MW of total electric generation capacity. The amount of wind and other renewable generation needed to meet New Mexico's Renewable Portfolio Standard is modest, as there are only 2 million New Mexicans. Most of New Mexico wind power is destined for the California and Arizona markets to help these states meet their Renewable Portfolio requirements.

The Argonne Mesa windfarm near Vaughn, New Mexico already sells its power to Arizona. The proposed High Lonesome Mesa will do the same. Presently, New Mexico exports about half of its coal-powered electricity out of state, so exporting wind power is the next logical step.

New Mexico, the "Land of Windchantment," will see thousands of MW of new windfarms built over the next couple of decades, but the rate of development will be dependent on how fast new transmission is constructed.

Robert Foster is a Program Manager for the Institute for Energy and Environment and an Associate Director in the College of Agriculture at New Mexico State University, where he has worked for 20 years. He has worked in over 30 countries with USAID, World Bank, DOE, NREL, NSF, NASA, Sandia Labs, and others. He has contributed to the development of wind energy projects in Brazil, Chile, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Mexico and the U.S. Mr. Foster is a Mechanical Engineering graduate from the University of Texas at Austin, and also holds a MBA from NMSU. He enjoys harnessing wind power with his sailboat.