New Mexico Register / Volume XXXVI,
Issue 12 / June 24, 2025
TITLE 17 PUBLIC UTILITIES AND UTILITY
SERVICES
CHAPTER 9 ELECTRIC SERVICES
PART 571 RENEWABLE ENERGY FOR RURAL ELECTRIC
COOPERATIVES
17.9.571.1 ISSUING AGENCY: New Mexico public regulation
commission.
[17.9.571.1 NMAC - N, 6/24/2025]
17.9.571.2 SCOPE: This
rule applies to all cooperatives, rural electric cooperatives, distribution
cooperatives, and generation and transmission cooperatives under the commission’s
jurisdiction.
[17.9.571.2 NMAC - N, 6/24/2025]
17.9.571.3 STATUTORY AUTHORITY: Sections 62-15-1 to -37
NMSA 1978 of the Rural Electric Cooperative Act, and Section 62-16-8 NMSA 1978 of
the Renewable Energy Act.
[17.9.571.3 NMAC - N, 6/24/2025]
17.9.571.4 DURATION: Permanent.
[17.9.571.4 NMAC - N, 6/24/2025]
17.9.571.5 EFFECTIVE DATE: June 24, 2025,
unless a later date is cited at the end of a section.
[17.9.571.5 NMAC - N, 6/24/2025]
17.9.571.6 OBJECTIVE: The objective of
this rule is to implement the renewable energy provisions of the Rural Electric
Cooperative Act, the voluntary tariff provisions of the Renewable Energy Act,
and to bring significant economic development and environmental benefits to New
Mexico.
[17.9.571.6 NMAC - N, 6/24/2025]
17.9.571.7 DEFINITIONS: Unless otherwise
specified, as used in this rule:
A. Definitions beginning with “A”: [RESERVED]
B. Definitions beginning
with “B”: [RESERVED]
C. Definitions
beginning with “C”: “cooperative”
means an
electric utility that is organized under the Rural Electric Cooperative Act or
the laws of another state as a cooperative nonprofit membership corporation;
cooperative is synonymous with rural electric cooperative.
D. Definitions beginning with “D”: “distribution cooperative” means an electric utility, with distribution facilities, that
purchases wholesale power and delivers it to consumers in New Mexico and that
is organized as a cooperative under the Rural Electric Cooperative Act or the
laws of another state; a distribution cooperative is a rural electric
cooperative, and may have generation facilities, transmission facilities, or
both, but it is not a generation and transmission cooperative.
E. Definitions beginning with “E”: [RESERVED]
F. Definitions beginning
with “F”: [RESERVED]
G. Definitions beginning with “G”: “generation and transmission cooperative” means an electric
utility, with generation facilities, transmission facilities, or both, but
without distribution facilities, that sells electric power to member
cooperatives in New Mexico and that is organized as a rural electric
cooperative under the Rural Electric Cooperative Act or the laws of another
state; a generation and transmission cooperative is a cooperative, but it is not
a distribution cooperative.
H. Definitions beginning with “H”:
[RESERVED]
I. Definitions beginning with “I”: [RESERVED]
J. Definitions beginning with “J”: [RESERVED]
K. Definitions beginning with “K”: [RESERVED]
L. Definitions beginning with “L”: [RESERVED]
M. Definitions beginning with “M”: [RESERVED]
N. Definitions beginning with “N”: [RESERVED]
O. Definitions beginning with “O”: [RESERVED]
P. Definitions beginning with “P”: plan year” means the calendar year for which approval is sought.
Q. Definitions
beginning with “Q.”: [RESERVED]
R. Definitions beginning with “R”:
(1) “renewable
energy certificate” or “REC” is as that term is defined in Section
62-15-37 NMSA 1978;
(2) “renewable portfolio standard” or “RPS” means the
minimum percentage of retail sales of renewable energy by a distribution
cooperative to customers in New Mexico that is required by the Rural Electric
Cooperative Act; and
(3) “rural electric cooperative” means an electric utility that is organized
under the Rural Electric Cooperative Act or the laws of another state as a
cooperative nonprofit membership corporation; rural electric cooperative
is synonymous with cooperative.
S. Definitions beginning with “S”: [RESERVED]
T. Definitions beginning with “T”: [RESERVED]
U. Definitions beginning with “U”: [RESERVED]
V. Definitions beginning with “V”: [RESERVED]
W. Definitions beginning with “W”: WREGIS” means
the western renewable energy generation information system.
X. Definitions beginning with “X”: [RESERVED]
Y. Definitions beginning with “Y”: [RESERVED]
Z. Definitions beginning with “Z”: [RESERVED]
[17.9.571.7 NMAC - N, 6/24/2025]
17.9.571.8 RENEWABLE PORTFOLIO STANDARD:
A. A
distribution cooperative shall meet the RPS to include renewable energy in its
electric energy supply portfolio as demonstrated by the retirement of RECs.
B. No later than January 1, 2025,
renewable energy shall comprise no less than forty percent of a distribution
cooperative’s total retail sales in New Mexico.
C. No later than January 1, 2030,
renewable energy shall comprise no less than fifty percent of a distribution
cooperative’s total retail sales in New Mexico.
D. No later than January 1, 2050, a distribution
cooperative shall provide New Mexico retail customers with electricity
generated from at least eighty percent renewable energy resources, provided
that:
(1) achieving the eighty percent RPS is
technically feasible;
(2) the distribution cooperative is able to provide reliable electric service while
implementing the eighty percent RPS; and
(3) implementing the eighty percent RPS shall
not cause electric service to become unaffordable.
E. Renewable energy resources that are
in a distribution cooperative’s energy supply portfolio on January 1, 2008,
shall be counted in determining compliance with Section 62-15-34 NMSA 1978 and
this rule.
F. Demonstration
of compliance:
(1) A distribution cooperative shall demonstrate
compliance with the RPS by retiring RECs associated with renewable energy
assigned to the distribution cooperative.
(2) A generation and transmission
cooperative shall be responsible for meeting the RPS for all energy it supplies
to its member distribution cooperatives in New Mexico.
(3) Energy from renewable energy
resources that a generation and transmission cooperative supplies in compliance
with the RPS shall be verified at the point where the generation and
transmission cooperative produces or takes delivery of
the energy on behalf of the member distribution cooperatives that the
generation and transmission cooperative serves.
[17.9.571.8 NMAC -
N, 6/24/2025]
17.9.571.9 ZERO
CARBON RESOURCE STANDARD:
A. No later than
January 1, 2050, a distribution cooperative shall provide New Mexico retail
customers with electricity generated from one hundred percent zero carbon
resources, provided that:
(1) achieving the one hundred percent standard
is technically feasible;
(2) the distribution cooperative is able to provide reliable electric service while
implementing the one hundred percent standard; and
(3) implementing the one hundred percent standard
shall not cause electric service to become unaffordable.
B. A generation and transmission
cooperative shall be responsible for meeting the zero carbon resource standard
for all energy it supplies to its member distribution cooperatives in New
Mexico.
C. Energy from zero carbon
resources that a generation and transmission cooperative supplies in compliance
with the zero carbon resource standard shall be verified at the point where the
generation and transmission cooperative produces or
takes delivery of the energy on behalf of the member distribution cooperatives
that the generation and transmission cooperative serves.
[17.9.571.9 NMAC - N, 6/24/2025]
17.9.571.10 REASONABLE
COST THRESHOLD:
A. If, in any given
year, a distribution cooperative determines that the average annual
levelized cost of renewable energy that would need to be procured or generated
for purposes of compliance with the RPS would be greater than $60.00 per
megawatt-hour at the point of interconnection of the renewable energy resource
with the transmission system, the distribution cooperative shall not be
required to incur that excess cost.
(1) The reasonable cost threshold of
$60.00 per megawatt-hour shall be adjusted for inflation after 2020.
(2) Excused performance pursuant to
the reasonable cost threshold in any given year shall not operate to delay
compliance with the RPS in subsequent years.
B. The provisions of
this subsection do not preclude a distribution cooperative from accepting a
project with a cost that would exceed the inflation-adjusted reasonable cost
threshold.
[17.9.571.10 NMAC - N, 6/24/2025]
17.9.571.11 RENEWABLE
ENERGY CERTIFICATES:
A. Renewable energy certificates:
(1) are owned by the
generator of the renewable energy unless:
(a) the RECs are
transferred to the purchaser of the energy through specific agreement with the
generator;
(b) the generator is a
qualifying facility, as defined by the federal Public Utility Regulatory
Policies Act of 1978, in which case the RECs are owned by the distribution
cooperative purchaser of the renewable energy unless retained by the generator
through specific agreement with the distribution cooperative purchaser of the
energy;
(c) a contract for the
purchase of renewable energy is in effect prior to January 1, 2004, in which
case the purchaser of the energy owns the RECs for the term of such contract; or
(d) the generator is a community solar
facility, excluding a native community solar project, as those terms are
defined in the Community Solar Act, in which case the RECs are owned by the
distribution cooperative to whose electric distribution system the community
solar facility is interconnected;
(2) may be traded, sold, or otherwise
transferred by their owner to any other party; such transfers and use of the
certificate by a distribution cooperative for compliance with the renewable
energy portfolio standard do not require physical delivery of the electric
energy represented by the certificate to a distribution cooperative, so long as
the electric energy represented by the certificate was contracted for delivery
in New Mexico, or consumed or generated by an end-use customer of the
distribution cooperative in New Mexico, unless the commission determines that
there is an active regional market for trading renewable energy and RECs in any
region in which the distribution cooperative is located;
(3) that are used once by a distribution
cooperative to satisfy the RPS and are retired, or that are traded, sold, or
otherwise transferred by the distribution cooperative, shall not be further
used by the distribution cooperative; and
(4) that are not used by a distribution
cooperative to satisfy the RPS, or that are not traded, sold, or otherwise
transferred by the distribution cooperative, may be carried forward for up to
four years from the date of creation and, if not used by that time, shall be
retired by the distribution cooperative.
B. A distribution
cooperative is responsible for demonstrating that a REC used for compliance
with the RPS is derived from eligible renewable energy resources and has not
been retired, traded, sold, or otherwise transferred to another party.
C. A distribution cooperative shall
maintain records sufficient to meet the requirements of 17.9.571.13 NMAC. A distribution
cooperative shall maintain such records for a minimum of 10 years.
D. The acquisition,
sale or transfer, and retirement of any RECs used to meet the RPS shall be
registered with WREGIS or its direct successor(s), except as provided in
Subsection E of 17.9.571.13 NMAC. Certificates
whose retirement has been registered by a distribution cooperative with WREGIS
shall be deemed to meet the requirements of Subsection B of 17.9.571.13 NMAC.
E. A REC representing
electricity delivered to New Mexico and registered with a tracking system other
than WREGIS may be used to meet the RPS so long as WREGIS lacks the capability
to import the REC from the other tracking system.
F. The requirement
for registration and trading of RECs through WREGIS shall not constitute a
finding by the commission that a regional renewable energy market is generally
available.
G. Until such time as
the commission has determined that there is a regional market for exchanging
renewable energy and RECs that is generally available for all distribution
cooperatives in the state, a distribution cooperative may seek approval from
the commission to meet some or all of its RPS using individual RECs that
represent energy generated by a renewable energy resource within a regional
renewable energy market or trading system in any region where the distribution cooperative
is located.
H. Any state having a
mandatory RPS that accepts RECs for energy produced and delivered in
New Mexico on a non-discriminatory basis for compliance with the state’s RPS shall be deemed to be part
of an active regional market for distribution cooperatives for the purposes of
Paragraph (2) of Subsection A of 17.9.571.13 NMAC.
I. A non-WREGIS
registered REC shall contain the following information:
(1) the name and contact information
of the renewable energy generating facility owner or operator;
(2) the name and contact information
of the distribution cooperative purchasing the REC;
(3) the type of
generator technology and fuel type;
(5) the distribution
cooperative to which the generating facility is interconnected;
(6) the control area
operator for the generating facility; and
(7) the quantity in
kWh and the date of the REC creation.
[17.9.571.11 NMAC - N, 6/24/2025]
17.9.571.12 VOLUNTARY RENEWABLE
TARIFFS:
A.
A distribution
cooperative may offer its retail customers a voluntary program for purchasing
renewable energy under rates and terms that are approved by the commission.
B. A distribution cooperative that
offers its retail customers a voluntary program for purchasing renewable energy
shall:
(1) report to the
commission by April 30 of each year the demand for renewable energy pursuant to
the voluntary program concerning the availability of renewable energy to the
rural electric cooperative and the annual demand for renewable energy pursuant
to their voluntary tariff; and
(2) comply with all
requirements for the procurement of renewable energy set forth in the Rural Electric
Cooperative Act.
[17.9.571.12 NMAC - N, 6/24/2025]
17.9.571.13 ANNUAL RENEWABLE ENERGY PORTFOLIO REPORT:
A. By April
30 of each year, a distribution cooperative shall file with the commission a
report on its purchases and generation of renewable energy during the preceding
calendar year.
B. The report shall include:
(1) an executive summary;
(2) the cost of the renewable energy
resources purchased and generated by the distribution cooperative to meet the RPS;
(3) an explanation of steps taken to
minimize costs, including competitive procurement and comparison of the price
of electricity from renewable energy resources in the bids received by the
distribution cooperative to recent prices for such electricity elsewhere in the
southwestern United States;
(4) an annual compliance plan for meeting
the RPS for the following three years;
(5) all
renewable energy generation or REC purchases and sales itemized by source;
(6) where
applicable, a reconciliation of any banking of RECs by providing a beginning REC
balance, the REC activity affecting the beginning REC balance, and an ending
REC balance;
(7) where
applicable, the impact of any existing multipliers on the number of available
RECs, including any documentation regarding the regulatory approval of such
multipliers;
(8) an attestation that, to the best
of the distribution cooperative’s knowledge, no RECs used for RPS compliance
have been double-counted;
(9) a
list of all RECs, including acquired, issued, or retired certificates;
(10) information,
from WREGIS or its successor, on RECs acquired, sold, retired, transferred, or
expired; and the information shall include reports from WREGIS or its successor
which allow the commission to determine, by fuel type, the number of RECs in
each calendar year:
(a) acquired;
(b) sold;
(c) retired;
(d) transferred;
and
(e) expired;
(11) a table with the following data:
(a) total amount of RECs;
(b) total retail sales in
megawatt-hours; and
(c) RPS compliance percentage
achieved;
(12) the report to the distribution
cooperative’s membership including a summary of its purchases and generation of
renewable energy during the preceding calendar year required by Subsection D of
Section 62-15-34 NMSA 1978; and
(13) renewable energy and conservation
fee information, pursuant to 17.9.571.16 NMAC, if applicable.
C. A distribution cooperative that is a member of a generation and
transmission cooperative may file its annual report as part of a group filing
package by the generation and transmission cooperative, provided that the distribution
cooperative’s filing requirements shall be identified separately from other cooperatives
in the group.
D. Staff
may request additional information or clarification from a distribution
cooperative.
E. A distribution cooperative, or a
generation and transmission cooperative filing on behalf of a distribution
cooperative, shall serve its annual report on the commissioners, commissioners’
advisors, office of general counsel, and staff.
[17.9.571.13
NMAC - N, 6/24/2025]
17.9.571.14 RENEWABLE
ENERGY AND CONSERVATION FEE:
A. A
distribution cooperative may collect from its customers a renewable energy and
conservation fee of no more than one percent of a customer’s bill.
(1) In no event shall a distribution
cooperative annually collect more than $75,000 from any single customer.
(2) Money collected through the
renewable energy and conservation fee shall be segregated in a separate
renewable energy and conservation account from other distribution cooperative
funds, and it shall be expended only on programs or projects to promote the use
of renewable energy, load management, or energy efficiency.
B. Each
distribution cooperative that collects a renewable energy and conservation fee
from its customers shall deduct from the fees paid to the state pursuant to
Section 62-8-8 NMSA 1978 an amount equal to fifty percent of the amount of money collected through the renewable energy and conservation
fee during the preceding calendar year. The
money shall be included in the account with other money from the renewable
energy and conservation fee and expended only on programs or projects to
promote the use of renewable energy, load management, or energy efficiency.
C. In
its annual report to the public regulation commission by April 30 pursuant to
17.9.571.15 NMAC, a distribution cooperative that collects a renewable energy
and conservation fee from its customers shall include the information described
below for the preceding calendar year:
(1) the total amount of
money collected by the distribution cooperative from its customers during the
preceding calendar year through the assessment of a renewable energy and
conservation fee and the balance of funds in the distribution cooperative’s
renewable energy and conservation fund, as of January 1 and December 31 of the
preceding calendar year;
(2) the amount of money withheld by the
distribution cooperative from the inspection and supervision fees due to the state
that was placed in the renewable energy and conservation fund as a partial
match of the renewable energy and conservation fees collected during the
preceding calendar year;
(3) the amount of money received by the
distribution cooperative from any third party that was placed in the renewable
energy and conservation fund;
(4) whether and to what extent the distribution
cooperative will assess its customers for a renewable energy and conservation
fee in the succeeding calendar year; and
(5) a summary of each renewable energy project,
energy efficiency program, or load management program upon which money from the
renewable energy and conservation fund was expended during the preceding
calendar year, which includes:
(a) a
description of the anticipated benefits to the distribution cooperative’s
members from each project or program;
(b) the
amount of money spent on each project or program; and
[17.9.571.14 NMAC - N, 6/24/2025]
HISTORY OF 17.9.571 NMAC: [RESERVED]