Robyn Jackson’s relatives in northwest New Mexico have long been impacted by the emissions from fossil fuels. Now she is speaking out in support of a renewable energy project she says could provide economic benefits to a region currently dependent on extractive industries.
Jackson provided public comment over Zoom on Monday in support of the Sunbelt Project — a solar and battery storage proposal that would be located in the Central Consolidated School District where the San Juan Generating Station once provided economic support and property tax revenue.
The three members of the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission traveled to Farmington on Monday to accept public comment, but the input was sparse throughout the three-hour meeting. Jackson was one of three commenters, all who spoke in support of the Sunbelt Project.
“We try to set up these sessions as close to the place where the communities will be affected, should the application be approved. So in this case, some of these resources are located near the city of Farmington. So that’s why we’re here in Farmington,” Commission Chairman Pat O’Connell said at the start of the public input meeting.
In particular, the commissioners hoped to receive input from people who could be impacted by the proposed solar array with battery storage that could be built in the Waterflow area west of Farmington.
The Sunbelt Project would generate 100 megawatts of electricity that would then be sent down existing transmission lines to serve customers of the Public Service Company of New Mexico, which owned the shuttered, coal-fired San Juan Generating Station power plant and the land it was on.
In addition to generating 100 megawatts of power, the Sunbelt Project would have 30 to 50 megawatts of battery storage capacity.
“[The Public Service Company of New Mexico] should be continuing with renewable power…to replace the San Juan Generating Station,” Jackson, who is a member of the Navajo Nation, said. “Our Tribal communities have long been affected by different fossil fuel operations on and near our lands, like coal mining and combustion from power plants like the San Juan Generating Station that operated for nearly five decades. The San Juan Generating Station resulted in air, land and water pollution and contamination to our nearby communities.”
She said renewable power projects in the Four Corners region will assist with economic development for communities that have been impacted by coal mining and electricity generation.
“Our region needs healthier alternatives to fossil fuel operations,” Jackson said. “Utility companies like PNM benefited monetarily and provided millions in profits over the years. PNM needs to be responsible and needs to be leading an energy transition that supports sustainable economic development and revenue replacement that does not further exploit or sacrifice our health and climate.”
While San Juan County residents who are primarily served by the Farmington Electric Utility System may not benefit directly from the power generation, PNM sees the solar farm as a way of fulfilling a promise to the school district. The district serves students on the Navajo Nation and in the Kirtland area west of Farmington. When PNM closed the San Juan Generating Station, The Central Consolidated School District faced a loss of property tax revenue. PNM agreed to locate 430 megawatts of replacement power within the district’s boundaries, but one of the projects fell through. San Juan County officials have since pushed PNM to increase the generation assets within the district’s boundaries.
Should the PRC approve the Sunbelt Project, it is expected to come online in 2028.
Tribal communities will probably still opt for gensets to replace the shuttered central powerplants, anyway. Gensets pollutes air , too.
It is probably something that should be reported to readers here.
I dont think they really care as much about air pollution as about their control of the generation itself to profit for themselves.. The bottom line is there will still be air pollution.
But not if we fill the world with enough empathy, compassion, and rainbows.
Kidding, of course, you make a perfectly good point. And, of course, no one will make the effort to discuss the pros and cons of energy production/pollution/etc. in any sort of objective way.