New Mexico regulators have signed off on a developer's proposal to build a 1,000-MW wind farm in central New Mexico and set for hearing three contested Facebook Inc. power purchase agreements.
The state Public Regulation Commission, or PRC, during a Feb. 28 meeting conditionally approved Clean Line Energy Partners LLC's proposal to build the Mesa Canyon Wind Farm on about 135,000 acres of mostly privately owned ranch land in Lincoln County, N.M. The project would be built in phases, with the first 330 MW to be in service by the end of 2019.
Lincoln County already has approved a land-use permit for the project, but air and water quality permits still must be obtained before construction can begin, PRC staffer Ashley Schaunner said. Also, the state land office must approve use of about 12,000 acres of public land for a second phase of the project, he said.
The state's location control statute requires developers to secure the PRC's approval in order to build projects. No objections to the application were filed, and the PRC staff recommended commission approval subject to compliance with air and water quality standards.
Clean Line does not yet have contracts for the energy that would be produced from the project, Schaunner said.
Facebook renewable agreements' approval delayed
In an unrelated development, the PRC during the same meeting set a hearing for March 7 on PNM Resources Inc. subsidiary Public Service Co. of New Mexico's application for approval of three purchased power agreements to serve Facebook with renewable energy. PNM has asked the commission to approve 267 MW of wind, solar and storage contracts to supply Facebook with renewable energy for the next 20 to 25 years to support the social media company's giant data center expansion in Los Lunas, N.M.
Hoping to expedite consideration of its Jan. 17 application for approval of those agreements, PNM asked the PRC not to hold a public hearing on the matter since no protests had been filed, other than one submitted by Citizens for Fair Rates and the Environment that the utility argued was unrelated to the instant proceeding. According to PNM, that protest relates to issues the PRC already decided in August 2016 when it approved an earlier set of contracts under which PNM agreed to provide renewable energy capacity to Facebook, and Citizens accordingly should have raised its concerns back then.
Under the earlier 25-year power purchase agreements, Facebook is to purchase 60 MW of power generated by three solar facilities, but the company now wants to triple the size of its original data center plans and therefore has entered into the three new power purchase agreements with PNM.
However, PRC staffer Russell Fisk said issues Citizens raised should be publicly addressed so a hearing should take place on those new contracts. The coalition expressed concern that the second round of power purchase agreements does not include enough battery storage capacity and that integrating more solar and wind facilities would place a financial burden on other customers unless more storage facilities are included.
Citizens is a coalition of environmental and public interest groups including 350.org, the Center for Advancing Sustainable Architecture, Environment New Mexico, Natural Resources Defense Council, New Mexico Public Interest Research Group, the Partnership for Responsible Business, Southwest Energy Efficiency Project, Southwest Research and Information Center, Western Environmental Law Center, and Western Resource Advocates.
Commissioner Patrick Lyons asserted that the opponents to the power purchase agreements seek to hold up a huge investment and hundreds of jobs Facebook is bringing to the state. "It amazes me these groups are opposing solar and wind. It just blows me away."
Nevertheless, Lyons joined the other commissioners in setting the hearing.
