The stock of PNM is trading at an all-time high, over $51 a share on Monday. Like other electric utilities that use a lot of borrowed money the stock has been helped by low interest rates. However, PNM shares really burst upwards during this year's legislative session when lawmakers approved the Energy Transition Act (ETA). The new law sets a statewide renewable energy standard of 50 percent by 2030 for New Mexico investor-owned utilities. That goes up to 100 percent carbon-free by 2045.

The measure was backed by the Governor and a big majority of lawmakers. It also made for a case of strange political bedfellows. An army of local and national environmentalists partnered with PNM to push the ETA through, even as they endured criticism that the ETA was a bailout for PNM to pay for the shutdown of its coal-fired generating station in the Four Corners and would result in significantly higher electric bills for New Mexicans.

But all is not settled. Now PNM must win permission to be a major provider of those renewable (carbon free) resources the ETA mandates and that leads to the Public Regulation Commission (PRC) which will decide the matter.

A Senior Alligator with long utility experience has these insights:

Now you have the vaunted Energy Transition Act--with a distant renewable target.  That's new investment. If PNM can own a lot of that new generation, that grows its rate-base--a lot. That's probably among the reasons for its high stock price.

The ETA is a consequential economic event. Given that, the Public Regulation Commission (PRC) has a separate review of 'competitive bidding' rules governing replacement power sources. The rules likely will be designed to preclude a rigged deal that favors utility-ownership of replacement power. The rules likely will encourage 'independent and competitive' market players. Given the magnitude of new power generation that will be needed without the San Juan Generation Station, the PRC's rule-making on resource procurement will be consequential.
The prior PRC majority was pretty accommodating to PNM. The current majority is less so--by a lot.

This is why PNM backed the proposed 2020 constitutional amendment that would return NM to an appointed commission, from the current elected panel. But, even assuming voters approve the amendment in November 2020, the change would not be effective until 2023. So, the current Commission (more-or-less) should be presiding during the early phases of the transition to renewables.

And that sheds light on why in 2018 PNM dived into several PRC campaigns by financing political committees that spent hundreds of thousands against candidates the company opposed. The risky move backfired big time. PNM's candidates all lost and the five member PRC became less PNM friendly.

Want to go deeper in the weeds on what PNM has been up to? Here's a transcript of the company's first quarter earnings reports featuring its top executives and Wall St. analysts.

WIN VINTAGE ABQ TICKETS

How about some great food and wine courtesy of your blog? You got it. We have two tickets valued at $85 each  to give away to the Vintage ABQ Grand Tasting this Friday evening, June 21 at the Anderson, Abruzzo International Balloon Museum. So let's have some fun doing it. . .

Bernalillo County says it is asking the public for suggestions for naming the new downtown county headquarters building. It's actually the 39 year old Alvarado Square building that is being renovated at a cost of nearly $50 million--50 percent more than the county initially estimated. We're sure with that in mind our witty readers can come up with an appropriate name for the County's new digs. The best answer wins the tickets--a $185 value. We'll take your emails (jmonahan@ix.netcom.com) until 8 p.m. today and announce the lucky winner on the Wednesday blog. Good luck!

Vintage ABQ is a nonprofit charitable organization that features the finest in ABQ food and wines at a variety of events listed on their website and available to you this week. Proceeds go to many causes including the NM Symphony, Albuquerque Youth Symphony, Arts in the School, APS Fine Arts Program, New Mexico Jazz Workshop and the New Mexico Philharmonic.

This is the home of New Mexico politics.

E-mail your news and comments. (jmonahan@ix.netcom.com)

Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here. 

(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2019