Public Power

Santa Fe councilors to debate public utility ordinance as soon as December

Santa Fe City councilors could debate an ordinance that would create a publicly owned power company as soon as next month, says Councilor Peter Ives, the measure's sponsor.

Ives says the proposal should go through the council's Finance Committee, Utilities Committee and Public Works Committee before heading  to the full City Council for a vote, possibly as early as Dec. 10, though he notes that he hasn't been able to confirm that schedule fully yet.

According to a draft provided by the city attorney's office, the ordinance would establish an electric public utility owned and operated by the city of Santa Fe, which would effectively take Public Service Company of New Mexico out of the picture.

Ives says the move that was

at a city "Climate Summit" would give the city an "opportunity to explore new and different ways to take advantage of solar power across Santa Fe."

Efforts to

a utility can take a city years. A battle that had Las Cruces attempting to wrestle control of power delivery from El Paso Electric endured several election cycles, with the power company successfully arguing that the city would have not only had to pay for its distribution system, but also millions for the company's investments in that system, called "stranded costs." The city never went through with the purchase.

But it's already happened in Santa Fe, when several decades ago the city successfully took over the delivery of water from no other than PNM.

Critics of that deal point out that advocates' promises to keep rates down did not hold true. But while rates have increased, Santa Fe has also managed to conserve more water over the years.

Here's a draft of Ives' proposal:

Santa Fe Public Power by justinhorwath

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