Natural gas pipeline will be a gamechanger for Picuris, Peñasco

Picuris Pueblo Gov. Craig Quanchello says he and his people have been waiting a long time to join much of the rest of Taos County — the state and the world — by connecting their homes and businesses to natural gas. And that day is finally in sight after NM Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham approved $14.5 million in capital outlay funding for the New Mexico Department of Transportation to extend a line from Dixon through the reservation and neighboring areas like Peñasco.

While most headlines since last week focused on the capital outlay projects Lujan Grisham did not approve — such as those contained in Senate Bill 48 (AKA, the pork bill), which the governor vetoed — the “Dixon-to-Peñasco Loop 1 gas pipeline construction” project approved for Taos County is one initiative she signed that county representatives recognize as a major win for our area. “One thing that I have to take my hat off to the governor for this year is running that natural gas pipeline up to Peñasco. That is big,” said Senator Bobby Gonzales of Ranchos de Taos, who credited the late Senator Carlos Cisneros with pushing for many years for the line to be extended to the area.

This is the type of extensive infrastructure upgrade that can transform a community for the better.

Even though natural gas has increased in price in the United States in recent months, it costs roughly one third of what propane costs per gallon on average. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, natural gas is also abundant here in New Mexico, where the country maintains some 5 percent of its total natural gas reserves.

At the consumer level, Quanchello said he expects natural gas will bring a range of other benefits besides significant cost savings, one being that— unlike retail propane or heating oil — natural gas is regulated by the state, giving customers a better sense of what they can expect to pay per unit without worrying that they are being gouged. He also noted the reliability of natural gas, which doesn’t require ground deliveries of new tanks that can be disrupted by bad weather. Of course, like other county residents, he still remembers the natural gas outage in early 2011 that cut service to an estimated 10,800 customers. As such he said propane systems will likely be kept in place for certain cases to serve as a backup in case of similar emergencies.

Establishing natural gas will also attract new homeowners and businesses, leading to a larger wave of development for this corner of the county. District 5 Taos County Commissioner Candyce O’Donnell, who represents Peñasco, agreed that the new pipeline will be a boon for the area, which has lagged behind other parts of the county in many aspects of its development, but which holds tremendous potential.

While the New Mexico Department of Transportation has yet to provide the exact timeline for the project, Quanchello said two or even three years is a short time to wait compared to how long he and other area residents have been hoping to see this project get the green light.

One thing we, and likely all residents, will be watching is to see where the line will be placed. Will it cut through sensitive environmental areas, or spectacular viewsheds — like the line up the hill above Rinconada — or will it run in already disturbed areas alongside roads? One thing 21st-century New Mexicans must learn is that progress doesn’t have to equal environmental degradation.

If you’re a Taos County resident, regardless of where you live, seeing a corner of our area receive this sort of major upgrade should be cause for celebration.

Congratulations to our neighbors. The way they access energy is about to change — and for the better.