HOUSE MEMORIAL 41

57th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2026

INTRODUCED BY

Patricia Roybal Caballero and Harold Pope

 

 

 

 

 

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO BUREAU OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC RESEARCH TO CONDUCT AND OVERSEE A STUDY TO DETERMINE THE GENERAL FEASIBILITY OF CREATING A PUBLICLY OWNED ELECTRIC UTILITY.

 

     WHEREAS, reliable and resilient energy infrastructure is essential to support the health, safety and economic security and meet the needs of residents across New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, publicly owned electric utilities offer a state the opportunity to safeguard critical energy infrastructure, ensuring reliable service delivery that is aligned with the public interest; and

     WHEREAS, residential customers served by publicly owned electric utilities pay the lowest electricity bills on average in thirty-five states, reflecting the not-for-profit, community-owned structure of the publicly owned electric utility model; and

     WHEREAS, many publicly owned electric utilities use power purchase agreements to supplement their owned generation resources, with more than twenty-three thousand megawatts of renewable energy being contracted through power purchase agreements in 2023; and

     WHEREAS, despite only ten percent of electricity in the United States coming from publicly owned electric utilities, approximately forty percent of that electricity is generated from non-carbon emitting sources; and

     WHEREAS, even without accounting for purchased power, publicly owned electric utilities rely on a higher proportion of clean energy generation than the private electric industry overall; and

     WHEREAS, publicly owned electric utilities generate more than sixty billion dollars ($60,000,000,000) in annual revenue and invest more than two billion dollars ($2,000,000,000) annually directly back into their communities; and

     WHEREAS, publicly owned electric utilities invest this revenue back into their communities in myriad ways, including through payments in lieu of taxes, creating local jobs with great benefits, offering free or reduced-cost electric services and supporting local causes and charities; and

     WHEREAS, other states have successfully used the publicly owned electric utility model to provide affordable and reliable energy to customers, including:

          A. Nebraska, which has operated a fully electric publicly owned power utility since 1949 that contributes more than thirty million dollars ($30,000,000) per year in payments in lieu of taxes that support various state-provided services;

          B. New York, which operates the largest state- owned public power utility that has been successfully serving residents since 1931;

          C. Tennessee, which operates a publicly owned electric utility, created in 1933 as part of the New Deal initiatives, that serves most of Tennessee along with parts of six surrounding states; and

          D. a handful of other states that have various county- and city-owned public power utilities, some of which date back to the late 1800s;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the university of New Mexico bureau of business and economic research be requested to study the general feasibility of acquiring and operating an electric utility for the purpose of creating a publicly owned electric utility in New Mexico; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the university of New Mexico bureau of business and economic research be requested to consult with the public regulation commission, the New Mexico renewable energy transmission authority and the energy, minerals and natural resources department when conducting the study; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the university of New Mexico bureau of business and economic research be requested to explore the necessary authority needed by the state to acquire and operate an electric utility; identify applicable federal, state and local laws; consider franchise rights, potential service area issues, condemnation and eminent domain risks; and investigate labor law, union and labor transition considerations; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the university of New Mexico bureau of business and economic research be requested to create an inventory of key public and private entities, data sources and repositories; if possible, collect high-level data appropriate for understanding assets; and assess the strengths and limitations of various valuation methods that may be used to evaluate a publicly owned electric utility; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the university of New Mexico bureau of business and economic research be requested to investigate the trends toward or away from private to public ownership of electric utilities, and vice-versa, across the country, including attempting to understand key reasons for the trends, and benefits and drawbacks of public and private ownership of electric utilities; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the university of New Mexico bureau of business and economic research be requested to assess the potential operational and management needs that a transition to a publicly owned electric utility model might be required to meet, including exploring potential transition plans from a current owner to a state-owned utility, identifying required expertise necessary to make that transition successful and any related customer service, information technology and emergency response needs that must be addressed; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the university of New Mexico bureau of business and economic research be requested to publish a report containing its determinations as to the general feasibility of a publicly owned electric utility model for New Mexico and any alternatives to an outright purchase of an electric utility that might still achieve the same interests, along with any additional findings or recommendations that the bureau identifies as useful to policymaking around the concept of publicly owned electric utilities; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the university of New Mexico bureau of business and economic research be requested to present its findings and recommendations to the relevant interim legislative committee on or before June 30, 2027; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the director of the university of New Mexico bureau of business and economic research, the chair of the public regulation commission, the executive director of the New Mexico renewable energy transmission authority and the secretary of energy, minerals and natural resources.

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