Doing the right thing

Idon’t know about you, but I’m tired of hearing New Energy Economy beating up the Public Service Company of New Mexico and its shareholders. So, let’s take a moment to talk about these shareholders that New Energy Economy likes to demonize.

Who are the shareholders that invest in utilities? Overwhelmingly, it is financial institutions that manage 401(k) and retirement savings for folks just like you and me. It is pension funds for retired teachers and those looking for a stable investment to send their kids to college. No one is saying that PNM shouldn’t be held accountable, but advocacy groups that have turned activism into a for-profit sport also need to be fact-checked.

The constant demonizing of PNM’s shareholders not only hurts the company but also continues to advertise to the world that New Mexico is not open for business. Recently, PNM was downgraded in its credit rating as a direct result of New Energy Economy’s opposition to anything PNM proposes at the Public Regulation Commission.

Making PNM the bad guy is great for only one business — New Energy Economy — but bad for New Mexicans. The credit rating agency cited New Mexico’s uncertain regulatory environment as the reason for the downgrade. That downgrade doesn’t only hurt PNM, it will hurt all of PNM’s customers. When PNM has to borrow money at a higher interest rate, we as customers will see that increase, and once again New Mexico advertises that this is not a place to set up shop.

A bill was introduced in the last legislative session to help deal with the closure of PNM’s coal plant in Farmington. The Energy Redevelopment Bond should have been a no-brainer, and has been adopted in 14 other states. The Energy Redevelopment Bond would have allowed PNM to request from regulators the ability to issue bonds to accomplish two important things.

First, to save customers money — since bonds carry a lower interest rate vis-à-vis traditional financing and second is to show those 401(k) and pensions shareholders that moving to green energy is not going to hurt their retirement savings. The bonds allow customers to save money and to incentivize shareholders to make the transition to green energy much faster — two things New Energy Economy should favor. But since the proposal was attached to PNM, New Energy Economy helped kill the legislation.

The transition to green energy is a complicated technological and economic challenge. New Mexicans can not only meet that challenge but lead the world in green energy, but we will not get anywhere if we listen to the sly slogans and three-second sound bites of an advocacy group whose financial survival depends on demonizing and opposing anything and everything that PNM proposes. That is not advocacy for a cause that benefits the greater good but advocacy that financially benefits the few at New Energy Economy.

The new green economy will call for hard decisions, real compromise and most of all, real facts. PNM, through its decision to close the San Juan coal plant, has shown it can make the hard decisions. Can New Energy Economy compromise to achieve that new green economy?

Making PNM the bad guy is great for only one business — New Energy Economy.