Renewable energy transition faces roadblocks in New Mexico

Aug. 16—As alarms increase about the horrors of climate change, New Mexico and the nation are hustling to accelerate renewable energy efforts.

An international report last week said the challenges of climate change are evident and worse than suspected. The United Nations panel said urgent action against carbon dioxide emissions and other greenhouse gases is essential.

But the coronavirus pandemic has slowed the global distribution of steel, aluminum, computer chips and other resources needed to build technology like wind turbines, which will play a big role in converting to renewable energy.

Already some solar energy projects in New Mexico have experienced delays because of pandemic-related supply problems, Public Service Company of New Mexico has said.

Further, some say the nationwide and worldwide push toward renewable energy hasn't been strong enough.

"In simple terms, we should be doing much better," said Olga Lavrova, a professor at New Mexico State University. "Countries are doing what their governments are allowing them to do. ... Some climatologists are referring to this as our last chance and last alarm."

Disputes over which events and crises are attributable to climate change are senseless at this point, many scientists say, when melting glaciers and coastal flooding are intensifying.

The message appears to be sinking in gradually, with the percentage of doubters still fairly high. A Gallup poll this year found 38 percent of respondents said global warming was "generally exaggerated," down from 48 percent in 2010.

A small sampling of New Mexico residents Friday found individuals who have deep concern. A 71-year-old man who declined to give his name said humanity is "on the cusp of disaster, basically."

Registered nurse Christina Romero called climate change "very serious." She took heart in the belief that New Mexico is "the perfect place" for renewable energy development because of its abundant wind and sun.

John Hay, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln extension educator with expertise in renewable energy and biofuels, said people know there is evidence of unrest.

"Most people recognize that something is changing," Hay said.

Federal Energy Information Administration data from 2019 indicates New Mexico has gotten a good start on developing renewable energy. The agency found that 23.5 percent of the state's electricity came from wind and sun, compared to 42 percent from coal and about 34 percent from natural gas.

Lavrova, an electrical and computer engineering faculty member and participant on a state task force on the energy grid, said New Mexico has a good plan and has done some sound work. "If you look at the big picture, New Mexico is ready and moving along nicely."

The Energy Transition Act of 2019 set goals of attaining half of the state's electrical energy through renewable sources by 2030, 80 percent by 2040 and all of it by 2045. The mandates are for the investor-owned electric utilities — PNM, El Paso Electric and Southwestern Public Service. Smaller co-ops have five years longer to get to 100 percent.

"If you don't have a plan, you can't meet the plan," Lavrova said.

Tom Fallgren, vice president of energy generation for PNM, said the transition will be far from simple. He cited what he sees as two appealing elements of a proposed PNM merger with Avangrid of Connecticut and Iberdrola of Spain, energy companies focused on renewable energy: the financing they can bring and technological advancements.

Hearings are being held this month by the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission on whether the merger should proceed.

Carbon neutrality can be reached, Fallgren said, but reliability and reasonable cost must accompany the move. "So we have to be very careful about how we make the transition."

PNM planned to shut down the coal-fueled San Juan Generating Station in northwestern New Mexico next summer and replace it with several solar energy projects that contractors were to build.

But the supply problem has delayed that work, leaving PNM seeking other ways to get energy to customers during the peak use time in summer 2022. Fallgren recently told the Public Regulation Commission he wouldn't absolutely rule out extending the life of the power plant if necessary.

Last week, he said he has "made some preliminary progress" in finding replacement energy for next summer, but he wasn't specific. He expects the world's supply problem to be resolved within a year. The majority of components in this shortage are made in factories in Asia, he said.

Reilly White, an associate professor of finance at the University of New Mexico, said the "short-term supply constraints are making it more difficult than it should be right now" to step up the transition to renewable energy.

"We expect this will be resolved," he said, but the speed with which the transition takes place depends on surmounting problems like this.

White foresees climate change as increasingly linked to economic consequences because of extreme weather events and disasters. That is likely to raise the level of political and consumer will to take expedient action, he said.

Generally, he said, "New Mexico is not behind" other states in converting to renewable energy. "It is really encouraging, and we've made good progress."

Renewable energy means more than sun and wind. Other sources include hydroelectricity, tidal energy, geothermal, nuclear and biomass, which can involve converting byproducts of agriculture into energy.

Nebraska's Hay and others said there is no such thing as a completely carbon-neutral source of energy. From start to finish, supplies must be furnished by trucks, and worn out wind-turbine blades must be removed and put in landfills.

"There is no perfect energy system," Hay said. But sources such as coal-fueled electricity and natural gas emit huge amounts of carbon compared to wind, solar and other sources. Nuclear energy is generally clean, he noted, but nuclear plants are expensive to build and the public perception of them is negative.

Also, some sources aren't always reliable. "What do I use when wind's not available?" Hay asked. "What do I use when solar is not available?" Those sources need to work in combination, perhaps, with natural gas, he said.

"The big thing is energy storage," he said. Relying on batteries for storage is costly, and batteries need to be devised that are big enough for utility company needs.

Lavrova said dealing with climate change is essential, "just so our children can have a livable planet."

The United Nations report called it "unequivocal" that human actions have a huge impact on climate change. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres described the report released this month as "code red for humanity."

PNM's Fallgren said he wouldn't minimize the challenges involved in addressing the situation.

He added: "The electric grid is the most complicated machine man has ever developed."