'A big deal:' NM gets $156M to boost solar energy accessibility

Apr. 22—As clean energy advocates celebrated Earth Day on a warm spring Monday, they also applauded a new federal award the state got to make solar power more accessible.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday announced a $156 million award for New Mexico to use in overcoming challenges people face adopting solar energy.

The money is part of the EPA's Solar for All program, which aims to create new or expand existing low-income solar programs. The EPA awarded dollars from a $7 billion pot to 49 states, six tribes and five nonprofits with work across multiple states.

"The EPA's Solar for All program is an unprecedented investment in clean, affordable renewable energy for low-income communities across the country," Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a statement. "It is only natural that New Mexico — a national leader in clean energy — would be among the states selected to participate."

The program in New Mexico is expected to make solar energy available to nearly 21,000 households that might not have otherwise been able to access the energy, according to a Monday news release from the governor's office, and save New Mexicans more than $299 million in energy costs over a 20-year period while preventing 116,628 tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere.

Jim DesJardins, executive director of the Renewable Energy Industries Association of New Mexico, told the Journal the main barriers to solar are the high upfront costs, so this large amount of money can make a substantial difference in accessibility.

"This is a big deal," he said.

The New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department will administer the program in the state and expects to get it started in early 2025, according to the Monday news release. It says the energy department will award grants and low-interest loans to entities that can provide solar energy to low-income and rural areas in the state.

New Mexico's community solar program — which enables getting solar energy to low-income households without needing rooftop solar — will get a portion of the $156 million, according to a press release from the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission. A PRC spokesperson said the amount hasn't been determined yet.

The PRC plans to create a fund that will help pay for infrastructure upgrades and improvements utilities say are necessary to get community solar rolling, according to the PRC news release. It also says the dollars could go toward program administration and customer management software.

"With the fires, drought and heat that New Mexico is experiencing because of the global climate crisis, there is real hope in being awarded $156 million dollars to superpower the Community Solar Program," said Camilla Fiebelman, director of the Sierra Club Rio Grande chapter, in a statement.

The Solar for All program also aims to address the state's aging power grid by adding 21 megawatts of solar energy capacity, according to the state, and producing additional storage capacity.

Areas lacking community solar, like tribal households not connected to a power grid, will also be eligible for residential solar system grants, according to the governor's office.

The state still needs to work out exactly how its energy agency will distribute the money, an EMNRD spokesperson told the Journal, and the department will form a committee to help hammer out the details.