A community solar program is taking shape in New Mexico, for the first time allowing subscribers to tap into renewable energy without owning solar panels. It seems to be catching on quickly.
Community solar provider Solstice has announced it is expanding community solar access to the territories of El Paso Electric (EPE) and Southwestern Public Service Company (SPS), which serve roughly 800,000 customers combined. More than 1,000 households and businesses have already enrolled in the burgeoning New Mexico community solar program through Solstice. Altus Power, which boasts more than 30,000 customers nationwide, is among the other companies providing New Mexicans access.
“Community solar is gaining real traction across New Mexico,” observes Sandhya Murali, co-founder and CEO of Solstice. “People want to support clean energy. They want lower bills. And they shouldn’t have to install a rooftop solar system to get clean energy benefits. That’s exactly what we’re bringing to EPE and SPS customers starting today.”
“Community solar in New Mexico is finally gaining ground, opening the doors to clean, affordable energy for every household regardless of income,” added Glenn Schiffbauer, Executive Director of the Santa Fe Green Chamber of Commerce. “This long-overdue step will generate good-paying local jobs, drive economic development across our state, and make solar a reality for the many, not just the few.”
New Mexico’s Community Solar Journey
New Mexico’s Community Solar Act is hardly out of its pilot stage, but high interest in a community solar program has already prompted an expansion.
The New Mexico Legislature established the program in 2021 via Senate Bill 84, eyeing a three-year pilot with some backend flexibility to expand (which it did). Per the bill, at least 30% of every community solar farm’s capacity must be dedicated to income-qualified households, which receive a 28% discount on all solar credits applied to their electric bills. Commercial customers like small businesses and nonprofits can also participate, earning a 10% discount while supporting local, renewable power.
Senate Bill 84 split its initial 200 MW cap amongst the state’s three investor-owned utilities (IOUs), EPE, PNM, and SPS (a subsidiary of Xcel Energy). The PRC received more than 400 applications for proposals to build and operate community solar facilities, totaling more than 1.7 gigawatts (GW) of generation capacity. After the PRC completed its rulemaking, New Mexico’s three IOUs appealed to the state Supreme Court, but the PRC moved forward with the community solar program.
In May 2023, the PRC and an independent program administrator (InClime Inc.) selected companies to construct 45 projects across the state. None are operational yet, and none are expected to come online until later this year or in 2026. The first one on state land just broke ground this month. Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM), the largest utility in the state, lists at least 29 distributed generation sites that its customers will eventually be able to tap into.
In 2024, the PRC asked the IOUs for feedback on how the program is going, but slowed by delays in project construction, they didn’t provide much. In their responses, the utilities reported supply chain issues in getting needed equipment. Eight of the projects within PNM’s service territory required transformer upgrades at substations, for example, and those upgrades don’t happen overnight. SPS also acknowledged supply chain constraints and indicated there could be delays in the study and construction phase of the interconnection process.
Last October 2024, in the face of utility resistance, the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (NMPRC) approved increasing the program’s capacity to 300 megawatts (MW). Expanding the program allows for at least one more round of clean energy projects to be selected. The state’s IOUs opposed increasing the cap.
“If we don’t raise the cap now, we’re creating a gap, a pretty large gap, where the next round of projects would not be built until at least 2028,” recognized Commissioner Gabriel Aguilera. “I’m concerned that waiting that long would remove some of this momentum.”
