Power lines in Barelas, Albuquerque in February 2022 (Photo by Marisa Demarco / Source NM)
About 10,000 customers in the East Mountains near Albuquerque should gear up for a power shutoff in anticipation of high winds and wildfire risk, electric utility officials said at a news conference Thursday.
High winds are expected throughout the day, particularly in Las Vegas, N.M., Santa Fe and the East Mountains. Gusts could reach 50 mph or higher, according to the National Weather Service.
The shutoff would affect all customers in the map below, including schools, officials with the Public Service Company of New Mexico said at a news briefing Thursday. The shutoff will begin at noon Thursday and is scheduled to last until 6 p.m. tomorrow, but conditions could change to shorten or lengthen the amount of time power is out, officials said.
PNM officials also said conditions are improving in the East Mountains, but they are going forward with a shutoff as planned for now.
“We are monitoring the system and conditions real time,” said PNM spokesperson Jeff Guell.
On Wednesday, the utility put customers in three areas on notice that shutoffs were likely. But the conditions improved in Santa Fe and Las Vegas such that the shutoffs will not occur, at least for now, officials said.
In both areas, officials warned that the power grid would be more “sensitive” to debris or trees coming into contact with power lines and would not automatically re-energize, as the system does during calmer weather. Instead, lines would be inspected in person before being re-energized, so power outages could be longer than normal.
The San Miguel/Mora Electric Cooperative also put customers on alert that it may have to shut off power for its customers in the Las Vegas area, as well.
If the shutoff occurs as planned, it would be the first time in PNM’s history that it preemptively shutoff power during a weather event, officials said. They cited the increase in extreme weather and other factors as reasons for the unprecedented step.
They also said the shutoff is not an attempt to prevent lawsuits if a tree falls on a live power line sparks a wildfire, though utilities have been on the hook for multi-billion-dollar lawsuits elsewhere. In 2013, a series of wildfires in California deemed to have ignited from trees hitting PG&E power lines resulted in a $13 billion lawsuit.
PNM is also currently fighting a lawsuit for the McBride Fire in Ruidoso in 2022.
Shortly after the fire, lawyers began suing PNM and its contractor, Trees, Inc., ultimately representing hundreds of plaintiffs. The lawsuit alleges that the McBride Fire’s cause was a pine tree that blew over onto a power line maintained by the utility. They say PNM and its contractor were negligent in allowing the tree to be tall enough and close enough to the power line to cause a fire on a windy day.
PNM previously denied any wrongdoing in a statement to Source New Mexico: “Public reports have noted a tree spanning approximately 50 feet tall that was outside of our right-of-way had contacted a power line due to unanticipated wind gusts of over 90 miles per hour,” spokesperson Eric Chavez told Source New Mexico. “PNM proactively employs vegetation management and wildfire mitigation practices that comply with applicable authorities.”