SB 78

                                1  SENATE BILL 78
                                2      57TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - SECOND SESSION, 2026
                                3  INTRODUCED BY
                                4       Anthony L. Thornton and Meredith A. Dixon and John Block
                                5  and Cathrynn N. Brown and Nicole Tobiassen
                                6
                                7
                                8
                                9
                                10  AN ACT
                                11   RELATING TO UTILITIES; ADDING NUCLEAR ENERGY TO THE LIST OF
                                12   RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES THAT SATISFY THE RENEWABLE PORTFOLIO
                                13   STANDARD FOR PUBLIC UTILITIES AND RURAL ELECTRIC COOPERATIVES.
                                14
                                15   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
                                16        SECTION 1.    Section 62-15-37 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2007,
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                                17   Chapter 4, Section 4, as amended) is amended to read:
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                                18        "62-15-37.    DEFINITIONS--ENERGY EFFICIENCY--RENEWABLE
                                19   ENERGY.--As used in the Rural Electric Cooperative Act:
                                20  A.   "energy efficiency" means measures, including
                                21   energy conservation measures, or programs that target consumer
                                22   behavior, equipment or devices to result in a decrease in
                                23   consumption of electricity without reducing the amount or
                                24   quality of energy services;
                                25  B.   "renewable energy" means electric energy
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                                1    generated by use of renewable energy resources and delivered to
                                2    a rural electric cooperative;
                                3  C.   "renewable energy certificate" means a
                                4    certificate or other record, in a format approved by the public
                                5    regulation commission, that represents all the environmental
                                6    attributes from one megawatt-hour of electricity generated from
                                7    renewable energy;
                                8  D.   "renewable energy resource" means electric or
                                9    useful thermal energy:
                                10  (1)   generated by use of the following energy
                                11   resources, with or without energy storage and delivered to a
                                12   rural electric cooperative:
                                13  (a)   solar, wind and geothermal;
                                14  (b)   hydropower facilities brought in
                                15   service on or after July 1, 2007;
                                16  (c)   other hydropower facilities
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                                17   supplying no greater than the amount of energy from hydropower
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                                18   facilities that were part of an energy supply portfolio prior
                                19   to July 1, 2007;
                                20  (d)   fuel cells that do not use fossil
                                21   fuels to create electricity;
                                22  (e)   biomass resources, limited to
                                23   agriculture or animal waste, small diameter timber, not to
                                24   exceed eight inches, salt cedar and other phreatophyte or woody
                                25   vegetation removed from river basins or watersheds in New
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                                1    Mexico; provided that these resources are from facilities
                                2    certified by the energy, minerals and natural resources
                                3    department to:    1) be of appropriate scale to have sustainable
                                4    feedstock in the near vicinity; 2) have zero life cycle carbon
                                5    emissions; and 3) meet scientifically determined restoration,
                                6    sustainability and soil nutrient principles; [and]
                                7  (f)   landfill gas and anaerobically
                                8    digested waste biomass; and
                                9  (g)   nuclear facilities that use nuclear
                                10   reactions, whether through nuclear fission or nuclear fusion,
                                11   to produce heat that drives power conversion systems and do not
                                12   emit carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases during
                                13   electricity generation; and
                                14  (2)   does not include electric energy generated
                                15   by use of fossil fuel [or nuclear energy];
                                16  E.   "useful thermal energy" means renewable energy
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                                17   delivered from a source that can be metered and that is
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                                18   delivered in the state to an end user in the form of direct
                                19   heat, steam or hot water or other thermal form that is used for
                                20   heating, cooling, humidity control, process use or other valid
                                21   end-use energy requirements and for which fossil fuel or
                                22   electricity would otherwise be consumed;
                                23  F.   "zero carbon resource" means an electricity
                                24   generation resource that emits no carbon dioxide into the
                                25   atmosphere, or that reduces methane emitted into the atmosphere
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                                1    in an amount equal to no less than one-tenth of the tons of
                                2    carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere, as a result of
                                3    electricity production; and
                                4  G.     "zero carbon resource standard" means providing
                                5    New Mexico rural electric cooperative retail customers with
                                6    electricity generated from one hundred percent zero carbon
                                7    resources."
                                8  SECTION 2.    Section 62-16-3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2004,
                                9    Chapter 65, Section 3, as amended) is amended to read:
                                10  "62-16-3.    DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Renewable Energy
                                11   Act:
                                12  A.     "commission" means the public regulation
                                13   commission;
                                14  B.     "energy storage" means batteries or other means
                                15   by which energy can be retained and delivered as electricity
                                16   for use at a later time;
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                                17  C.     "municipality" means a municipal corporation,
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                                18   organized under the laws of the state, and H class counties;
                                19  D.     "public utility" means an entity certified by
                                20   the commission to provide retail electric service in New Mexico
                                21   pursuant to the Public Utility Act but does not include rural
                                22   electric cooperatives;
                                23  E.     "reasonable cost threshold" means an average
                                24   annual levelized cost of sixty dollars ($60.00) per megawatt-
                                25   hour at the point of interconnection of the renewable energy
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                                1    resource with the transmission system, adjusted for inflation
                                2    after 2020;
                                3  F.   "renewable energy" means electric energy
                                4    generated by use of renewable energy resources and delivered to
                                5    a public utility;
                                6  G.   "renewable energy certificate" means a
                                7    certificate or other record, in a format approved by the
                                8    commission, that represents all the environmental attributes
                                9    from one megawatt-hour of electricity generated from renewable
                                10   energy;
                                11  H.   "renewable energy resource" means the following
                                12   energy resources, with or without energy storage:
                                13  (1)   solar, wind and geothermal;
                                14  (2)   hydropower facilities brought in service
                                15   on or after July 1, 2007;
                                16  (3)   biomass resources, limited to agriculture
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                                17   or animal waste, small diameter timber, not to exceed eight
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                                18   inches, salt cedar and other phreatophyte or woody vegetation
                                19   removed from river basins or watersheds in New Mexico; provided
                                20   that these resources are from facilities certified by the
                                21   energy, minerals and natural resources department to:
                                22  (a)   be of appropriate scale to have
                                23   sustainable feedstock in the near vicinity;
                                24  (b)   have zero life cycle carbon
                                25   emissions; and
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                                1  (c)   meet scientifically determined
                                2    restoration, sustainability and soil nutrient principles;
                                3  (4)   fuel cells that do not use fossil fuels to
                                4    create electricity; [and]
                                5  (5)   landfill gas and anaerobically digested
                                6    waste biogas; and
                                7  (6)   nuclear facilities that use nuclear
                                8    reactions, whether through nuclear fission or nuclear fusion,
                                9    to produce heat that drives power conversion systems and do not
                                10   emit carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases during
                                11   electricity generation;
                                12  I.   "renewable portfolio standard" means the minimum
                                13   percentage of retail sales of electricity by a public utility
                                14   to electric consumers in New Mexico that is required by the
                                15   Renewable Energy Act to be from renewable energy;
                                16  J.   "renewable purchased power agreement" means an
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                                17   agreement that binds an entity generating power from renewable
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                                18   energy resources to provide power at a specified price and
                                19   binds the purchaser to that price;
                                20  K.   "zero carbon resource" means an electricity
                                21   generation resource that emits no carbon dioxide into the
                                22   atmosphere, or that reduces methane emitted into the atmosphere
                                23   in an amount equal to no less than one-tenth of the tons of
                                24   carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere, as a result of
                                25   electricity production; and
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                                1  L.   "zero carbon resource standard" means providing
                                2    New Mexico public utility customers with electricity generated
                                3    from one hundred percent zero carbon resources."
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