Santa Fe, NM—Today,
in a unanimous vote, the New Mexico House of Representatives voted to adopt
important energy efficiency legislation, supported by environmentalists, low
income and senior advocates and utilities. The bill will now go to the Senate.
“We’re pleased to see such broad-based support for energy
efficiency,” said Environment New Mexico Advocate Lauren Ketcham. “Our homes
and offices use energy that contributes to global warming. An energy efficiency
standard will help to reduce this sector’s greenhouse gas emissions, while
creating new jobs and saving consumers money on their utility bills.”
The Governor-backed House Bill 305, sponsored by Speaker of
the House Ben Lujan, would require utilities to develop programs to save
energy—equal to 10% of the utility’s sales by 2020.
The bill would also allow the Public Regulations Commission
(PRC) to provide incentives to utilities who can demonstrate significant energy
savings, allowing energy efficiency to become profitable for utilities like
building new coal-fired power plants currently is.
The bill is supported by the Coalition for Clean Affordable
Energy, including member groups like Community Action New Mexico, Natural
Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club and Environment New Mexico.
“Energy efficiency is a win-win. Energy efficiency is the
cheapest form of new energy, costing at least half of what new generation
costs. It also offsets the need to build new power plants, creates new jobs and
reduces our reliance on foreign sources of energy. We urge the Senate to pass
this legislation,” concluded Ketcham.
