ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM), New Mexico’s largest electric utility, has issued a request for proposals or RFP for renewable energy projects that will decrease its dependence on fossil fuels and help the company meet state renewable energy mandates.
“We want to evaluate all alternatives available to meet our growing renewable energy requirements cost-effectively and reliably for our customers,” said PNM Planning and Resources Director Patrick O’Connell.
PNM seeks multiple proposals for wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal and bio-fuel generation that can be available no later than 2015. Beginning in 2015, PNM requires a total of 375,000 megawatt-hours of new qualifying renewable energy per year supplied through company-owned projects, power purchase agreements or through purchases of renewable energy certificates from other renewable generators in New Mexico. The RFP does not include electric energy generated by fossil fuels such as natural gas or coal or by nuclear power.
Currently, New Mexico requires PNM to have a renewable energy portfolio that equals 10 percent of its retail energy sales, a goal PNM will achieve in 2013 and 2014 from a mix of solar, wind, and geothermal sources and its solar distributed generation program. In 2015, the state renewable requirement increases to 15 percent and to 20 percent by 2020. New Mexico also has a renewable resource diversity requirement of 20 percent solar, 20 percent wind, 10 percent non-wind/non-solar and 1.5 percent distributed generation that becomes 3 percent in 2015.
“Having a variety of generation sources allows PNM to capture the benefits of each resource and best operate the electric system when resources are intermittent, while also meeting state renewable resource diversity requirements,” said O’Connell.
The deadline for proposal submissions is Jan. 31, 2013. A pre-bid conference for those planning to submit proposals is planned for Dec. 10, 2012. Learn more about the RFP process and the pre-bid conference at http://www.pnm.com/rfp/renewables-nov-2012/home.htm. Questions related to the RFP must be submitted in writing to the Renewable RFP Administrator at RenewableRFP@pnmresources.com.
With headquarters in Albuquerque, PNM is the largest electricity provider in New Mexico, serving 500,000 customers in dozens of communities across the state. PNM is a subsidiary of PNM Resources, an energy holding company also headquartered in Albuquerque.