A solar and battery storage development operated by Entergy in Searcy, Arkansas. (Robert Zullo / States Newsroom)
New Mexico lawmakers and renewable energy advocates will once again seek funds and legal authority during this year’s legislative session to help rural and tribal governments establish solar-powered centers, in part to ensure residents have stable electricity during disasters like wildfires or blizzards.
Lawmakers also introduced the Local Solar Access Fund last year, unsuccessfully. This year, the $60 million funding request is reduced by $50 million, along with other tweaks like making land grants eligible, sponsors said during a news conference Friday afternoon organized by Public Power New Mexico.
“I feel very optimistic that this is our year to truly deliver on these benefits for rural communities,” said House Majority Leader Reena Szczepanski (D-Santa Fe), who is sponsoring the legislation along with Sen. Harold Pope (D-Albuquerque).
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If passed, the New Mexico Finance Authority would, after establishing rules with help from the state energy department, provide grants to small public entities like counties, school districts and tribes and pueblos to help them plan for, purchase and install solar energy systems on public buildings and other infrastructure they own.
In addition to expanding the use of renewable energy, the grants would help rural areas be more self-reliant and resilient to power outages, including those that might occur during natural disasters, advocates said. Steve Jenison, a district chief for the volunteer fire department in Dixon, said the solar panels his department installed several years ago have already proven a vital energy backup.
“We had a couple of bad wind storms earlier in the year that knocked out the power and we were able to maintain all of the functions of the fire station,” he said at the news conference. “The emergency power switches on within about two seconds of the power going out, so we were able to not only serve the purposes of the fire station, but also of the community.”
The funding would also provide grants for technical assistance to apply for federal funding or to design solar systems. Ruidoso Mayor Lynn Crawford said it took years for the village to understand and design the solar power system that will soon power its wastewater treatment plant.
The bill has not yet been introduced to the Legislature, but lawmakers provided a draft bill here.