HB 337

                                1  HOUSE BILL 337
                                2     57TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - SECOND SESSION, 2026
                                3  INTRODUCED BY
                                4  Debra M. Sariñana and Tara L. Lujan
                                5
                                6
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                                8
                                9
                                10  AN ACT
                                11   RELATING TO PUBLIC UTILITIES; INCLUDING CONSIDERATION OF
                                12   RENEWABLE ENERGY STANDARDS AS A FACTOR IN EVALUATING GRID
                                13   MODERNIZATION GRANTS.
                                14
                                15   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
                                16        SECTION 1.     Section 71-11-1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2020,
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                                17   Chapter 15, Section 1) is amended to read:
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                                18        "71-11-1.     GRID MODERNIZATION ROADMAP AND GRANT PROGRAM.--
                                19  A.   The energy, minerals and natural resources
                                20   department shall develop a roadmap for grid modernization that
                                21   shall detail priorities and strategies to modernize New
                                22   Mexico's electric grid.
                                23  B.   The department shall establish a grid
                                24   modernization grant program to support implementation of a
                                25   modern grid by providing grants to eligible projects proposed
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                                1    by:
                                2  (1)   municipalities and county governments;
                                3  (2)   state agencies;
                                4  (3)   state universities;
                                5  (4)   public schools;
                                6  (5)   post-secondary educational institutions;
                                7    and
                                8  (6)   Indian nations, tribes and pueblos.
                                9  C.   The department shall adopt rules establishing
                                10   the application procedure, the required qualifications for
                                11   projects and the purposes for which the grant may be used.       In
                                12   approving grants, consideration shall be given to:
                                13  (1)   the extent to which the project improves
                                14   electrical system efficiency, reliability, resilience and
                                15   security; lowers operations and maintenance costs; and meets
                                16   energy demands through a flexible, diversified and distributed
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                                17   energy portfolio that includes a percentage of renewable
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                                18   generation sources consistent with the renewable portfolio
                                19   standards in the Renewable Energy Act and consistent with New
                                20   Mexico's energy goals;
                                21  (2)   the extent to which the project
                                22   incorporates a new technology or a new or innovative
                                23   application of an existing technology that will provide useful
                                24   information in real time to the state, utilities, electric
                                25   cooperatives and their customers and the general public related
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                                1    to grid modernization;
                                2  (3)   the degree to which the project fosters
                                3    the general public's, students' or a specific government or
                                4    industry sector's overall understanding and appreciation of the
                                5    benefits of modernizing the electric grid;
                                6  (4)   the extent to which the project
                                7    complements or coordinates with the resource planning of a
                                8    public utility as required by the Public Utility Act; [and]
                                9  (5)   the extent to which the project stimulates
                                10   in-state economic development, including the creation of jobs
                                11   and apprenticeships; and
                                12  (6)   the extent to which the project helps a
                                13   public utility to meet the requirements of the renewable
                                14   portfolio standards set forth in the Renewable Energy Act.
                                15  D.   Grants shall be awarded on a competitive basis,
                                16   and priority shall be given to proposals that use matching
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                                17   funds from non-state sources.    The grant program shall seek to
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                                18   fund applicants in each of the following categories:
                                19  (1)   an Indian nation, tribe or pueblo;
                                20  (2)   a rural community served by a rural
                                21   electric cooperative;
                                22  (3)   a rural community served by an investor-
                                23   owned public utility;
                                24  (4)   an urban or semi-urban municipality or
                                25   county; and
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                                1  (5)   an institution of higher education.
                                2  E.   Projects receiving a grant from the grid
                                3    modernization grant program shall be required to be coordinated
                                4    with the electric service provider that serves the entity in
                                5    order to ensure that the program does not adversely impact
                                6    electrical system efficiency, reliability, resilience and
                                7    security.
                                8  F.   The department shall provide a report on the
                                9    grid modernization grant program to the legislative finance
                                10   committee prior to each regular legislative session.     The
                                11   report shall include:
                                12  (1)   a list of grant recipients;
                                13  (2)   the amount and date of each grant;
                                14  (3)   a description of each project funded; and
                                15  (4)   a description of how each project
                                16   contributes to grid modernization and demonstrates increased
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                                17   electric grid reliability, resilience and security; creates
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                                18   economic benefits; or pilots or demonstrates new technologies
                                19   or new implementations of existing technologies.
                                20  G.   For the purposes of this section:
                                21  (1)   "department" means the energy, minerals
                                22   and natural resources department; [and]
                                23  (2)   "grid modernization" means improvements to
                                24   electric distribution or transmission infrastructure, including
                                25   related data analytics equipment, that are designed to
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                                1    accommodate or facilitate the integration of renewable electric
                                2    generation resources with the electric distribution grid or to
                                3    otherwise enhance electric distribution or transmission grid
                                4    reliability, grid security, demand response capability,
                                5    customer service or energy efficiency or conservation and
                                6    includes:
                                7  (a)    advanced metering infrastructure
                                8    that facilitates metering and providing related price signals
                                9    to users to incentivize shifting demand;
                                10  (b)    intelligent grid devices for [real
                                11   time] real-time system and asset information at key substations
                                12   and large industrial customers;
                                13  (c)    automated control systems for
                                14   electric distribution circuits and substations;
                                15  (d)    communications networks for service
                                16   meters;
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                                17  (e)    distribution system hardening
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                                18   projects for circuits and substations designed to reduce
                                19   service outages or service restoration times;
                                20  (f)    physical security measures at key
                                21   distribution substations;
                                22  (g)    cybersecurity measures;
                                23  (h)    energy storage systems and
                                24   microgrids that support circuit-level grid stability, power
                                25   quality, reliability or resiliency or provide temporary backup
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                                1    energy supply;
                                2  (i)   electrical facilities and
                                3    infrastructure necessary to support electric vehicle charging
                                4    systems;
                                5  (j)   new customer information platforms
                                6    designed to provide improved customer access, greater service
                                7    options and expanded access to energy usage information; and
                                8  (k)   other new technologies that may be
                                9    developed regarding the electric grid; and
                                10  (3)   "microgrid" means a group of
                                11   interconnected loads and distributed energy resources within
                                12   clearly defined electrical boundaries.    A microgrid acts as a
                                13   single controllable entity with respect to the grid and has a
                                14   maximum generation capacity of twenty megawatts.      A microgrid
                                15   can operate in both grid-connected or in an island mode."
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