Clean Energy News

Yesterday, Environment New Mexico’s vision of 50,000 solar roofs got one step closer to becoming a reality. House Bill 610, the Solar Collector Construction Standards bill, sponsored by Rep. Mimi Stewart (Albuquerque), has unanimously passed both houses of the Legislature (Senate 34-0, House 68-0) and now awaits only a signature from Governor Bill Richardson.

“New Mexico should be leading the nation in solar power. To help realize our vast solar potential, Environment New Mexico has set a goal of equipping 50,000 rooftops in the state with solar panels,” said Lauren Ketcham, an advocate with Environment New Mexico. “A key step in reaching that goal is the adoption of new building standards which enable homeowners to install solar collectors down the road and require new housing developments to be solar-ready as a standard feature of the house. House Bill 610 is an excellent step toward realizing this vision.”

HB 610 amends the Solar Collector Standards Act and Construction Industries Licensing Act to require New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, the Construction Industries Division (CID) and the Construction Industries Commission (CIC) to adopt rules, standards or codes for new construction to accommodate the later installation of solar collectors, including roof orientation, roof strength, location of obstructions to sunlight, access to installation locations, built-in conduit, and wiring, piping and brackets for attaching solar collectors.

“Homeowners will typically save one thousand to several thousand dollars if the initial construction of their home simply incorporates some reasonable low-cost features, such as a sensible roof layout and orientation, perhaps some mounting brackets for some types of roofs and easier access to the electrical and plumping systems. Each home and building constructed that is not "solar-ready" is a tremendous missed opportunity for New Mexico,” said Ben Luce, Director of the Coalition for Clean Affordable Energy (CCAE), who proposed the legislation.

New Mexico is second in the nation for solar potential. However, 87% of New Mexico’s power still comes from coal-fired power plants—one of the leading contributors to global warming and smog, soot and mercury pollution. New Mexico uses much of this power to provide electricity for buildings and exports nearly half of this dirty power to other states.

The Director of the Construction Industries Division, Lisa Martinez, says her Division supported the Legislation because it fits in nicely with the Division's plans to develop a bureau and standards for "green building" practices.

“Approximately 12,000 new homes are built each year in New Mexico. With the passage of this bill, we’ll be building these homes right the first time and setting ourselves up to power New Mexico’s homes with clean, renewable energy instead,” said Ketcham.

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In 2006, Environment New Mexico became the new organizational home of New Mexico Public Interest Research Group’s (NMPIRG) environmental work, focusing exclusively on protecting New Mexico’s air, water and open spaces. Drawing on more than 30 years of experience, our professional staff combines independent research, practical ideas and effective educational campaigns to overcome the opposition of special interests and win real results for New Mexico’s environment. Environment New Mexico is a member of the Coalition for Clean Affordable Energy. (www.environmentnewmexico.org)

The Coalition for Clean Affordable Energy (CCAE) formed in 1997 to give a greater voice to New Mexicans in the legislative deliberations then surrounding electricity deregulation in New Mexico. CCAE opposed deregulation, but also successfully advocated for renewable energy and energy efficiency provisions in the deregulation legislation which did ultimately pass. CCAE continues to advocate vigorously for clean energy at both the Legislature and Public Regulation Commission. CCAE’s efforts have led to legislation and regulations protecting consumers and establishing a number of requirements crucial for encouraging the large scale development of clean power in New Mexico. (www.cfcae.org)