On Tuesday, New Mexico’s state House of Representatives passed the “Energy Transition Act,” which commits the state to getting 100 percent of its energy from carbon-free sources by 2045. The act passed the state Senate last week. Now the bill awaits the signature of New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham.
New Mexico is a relatively coal-heavy state, generating 1.5 gigawatts of coal-fired electricity as of November 2018.
The bill includes interim goals mandating that 50 percent of the state’s energy mix be renewable by 2030 and 80 percent of the energy mix be renewable by 2040. The state currently buys no nuclear power, which is not renewable but qualifies as a zero-carbon energy source. The bill passed yesterday does not require that 100 percent of the state’s energy be renewable by 2045; it just specifies that no electricity come from a carbon-emitting source.