Morning Word: PNM's Power Plan Loses AG's Support

Attorney general says utility's power plan "isn't good enough."

It's Thursday, June 25, 2015

Attorney General Hector Balderas, by law New Mexico’s top consumer advocate, has reversed his position on the Public Service Company of New Mexico’s power replacement plan. Balderas says he now wants the utility and various stakeholders to develop new options for replacing electric power that will be lost when PNM shutters two towers at its coal generating station near Farmington.

Read it at the Santa Fe New Mexican.  As expected, Public Regulation Commissioners have voted to give PNM more time to finalize its coal supply contract and restructure San Juan Generating Station ownership agreements. The utility now has until Aug. 1 to complete its plan. Read it at the Albuquerque Journal.  Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency has reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with the owners of the Navajo Nation's coal plant to reduce its dirty emissions. The agreement should improve air quality in 15 nearby national parks.

Read it at the ABQ Free Press.  Other EPA regulations could cost New Mexico’s four gasoline refineries billions and cripple the industry, according to Chet Thompson, the new president of the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers Association. Read it at ABQ Business First.  Hard to believe, but CNBC ranks New Mexico in the middle of the pack for best states to do business in.

Read it here. 

It may be easier to do business in New Mexico, but journalist Dan Boyd has a story this morning that says plans to upgrade a state government computer system are facing opposition. State Treasurer Tim Eichenberg contends it would be better to reinstall the entire system rather than upgrade the $30 million computer program.

Read it at the ABQ Journal.  This is strange, but the State of New Mexico is fighting a deputy prison warden’s claim that she is paid $10 an hour less than her male counterparts. Administration lawyers argue the 2013 Fair Pay for Women Act, signed into law by the state’s first woman governor, doesn’t apply to state employees, because the government hasn’t waived its immunity. Read it at New Mexico Political Report.  Folks at the University of New Mexico, on the other hand, say pay discrepancies on campus aren’t as large as originally reported.

Sal Crist has the details.

SFR’s new staff reporter Elizabeth Miller is off to a fast start. She’s posted a story about Santa Fe City Councilors rejecting a plan to rezone land along Agua Fría Street for a new apartment complex.

Read Miller's story here.  A staff attorney at the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office is being accused of bullying a nonprofit organization employee. Court papers were filed Monday in district court in Santa Fe.

Read the Associated Press story here.  Are you ready to play in space? After months of planning, Spaceport America has opened its tourism welcome center in Truth or Consequences. Read it at the Las Cruces Sun-News.  Movie fans who love big summer blockbusters can’t wait for next year’s Independence Day sequel. It’s being filmed at ABQ Studios, and this week the cast and crew showed off their set to the national and international entertainment press. Mike English found a bunch of the film set's pictures online at ComingSoon.net

See them all here. 

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