Project may deliver Peñasco natural gas

PE—ASCO — Hundreds of residents in this remote town in Taos County might finally see construction start on their long-promised access to natural gas.

State Sen. Bobby Gonzales, a Ranchos de Taos Democrat, said he is confident construction on the Dixon-Peñasco natural gas pipeline extension is finally going to begin, perhaps as early as this year, allowing residents to switch from more costly propane.

“This started when Sen. Carlos Cisneros was still alive,” Gonzales said, indicating he and the late Cisneros secured early funding for the project. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham added $14.5 million to the pot in more recent years.

New Mexico Gas Co. promises the economic benefits for southern Taos County residents will be significant.

Depending on the structure and household size, among other factors, folks who switch from propane to natural gas will recoup their costs to connect — like retrofitting appliances and installing a service connection to the home — fairly quickly, according to the company.

On average, heating with propane costs about three to four times more than using natural gas, according to New Mexico Gas.

“From our initial estimates on these extension projects, a customer could save about $1,800 per year by converting from propane to natural gas,” according to a company spokesperson.

The New Mexico Department of Transportation, which is administering the project, did not respond to a request for comment.

The gas company spokesperson said the project consists of two pipeline extensions.

“One part of the project will extend the pipeline from Dixon to the Peñasco school district complex,” the spokesperson said. “The other part will extend the pipeline from Talpa to Pot Creek.”

Janice Duran, business manager for the Peñasco Independent School District, said in an email the district spent over a quarter of a million dollars on propane last year. So far this year, the district has spent $174,000.

While the savings for the school district and residents will be significant, Gonzales said he also understands that local propane businesses may not be as pleased.

Aside from fuelwood for heat, Peñasco residents, businesses and the Peñasco school district rely almost exclusively on propane delivered by trucks, which introduces reliability issues. Unlike natural gas, propane isn’t regulated, so prices can fluctuate day to day and from dealer to dealer.

“It’s going to be hard on those businesses, but what can you do? The big picture is: Consumers will save money by making the switch,” Gonzales said, adding communities near the Mora County line may eventually benefit as well.

Preliminary estimates indicate the presence of “about 100 potential customers at Picuris Pueblo and about 240 [customers] in Peñasco,” the gas company spokesperson said. “There are also several dozen who live along the two pipeline extension routes.

“Initially, the focus will be on installing the two pipelines,” he added. “Later, after the pipeline extensions are completed, we will work with interested parties who live along the routes to establish new service lines. And later we hope to extend service to Picuris Pueblo and Peñasco.”

“There’s a lot of interest in the Sipapu area, and that can perhaps come later,” Gonzales said. “They are immediately going to build the infrastructure to capacity, so the line will be big enough to go further.”

Taos County Commissioner Ron Mascareñas is hopeful the project will reach fruition, but said he’ll believe it when he sees it.

“From the school’s aspect it’s pretty good,” Mascareñas said. “Obviously there’s money now — but this has been talked about since the ‘80s. There’s also 2 1/2 miles of tribal land that it has to go through.”

Picuris Pueblo Gov. Craig Quanchello said there may still be a few individual holdouts with regard to rights of way off the main trunk line routes, but indicated the pipeline, including its routing to the pueblo and through much of Peñasco, is looked upon favorably by the tribe.

“We’re excited for it,” he said. “We’ve been working on it since 2006-2007, trying to get natural gas up this way.”