San Juan County passes ordinance requiring demolition of San Juan Generating Station

Despite opposition from the San Juan Generating Station’s majority owner, a new ordinance in San Juan County will require the power plant to be demolished once it is permanently closed. The San Juan County Commission unanimously passed an ordinance requiring the demolition and remediation of the coal-fired power plants upon closure following comments from various […]

San Juan County passes ordinance requiring demolition of San Juan Generating Station

Despite opposition from the San Juan Generating Station’s majority owner, a new ordinance in San Juan County will require the power plant to be demolished once it is permanently closed.

The San Juan County Commission unanimously passed an ordinance requiring the demolition and remediation of the coal-fired power plants upon closure following comments from various plant owners during the commission meeting on Tuesday. This comes after the Public Service Company of New Mexico proposed retiring the plant in place, which means the structure would remain standing until a later date.

The ordinance does not require all of the infrastructure to be demolished after the power plant closes next summer. Some of the infrastructure at the site, such as the water conveyance system, could be put to other use. The ordinance specifically highlights future use of the water conveyance system for the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project.

Related: San Juan County takes steps to require power plant demolition upon closure

While there are two coal-fired power plants in San Juan County, this ordinance only affects the San Juan Generating Station. The Four Corners Power Plant is located on Navajo Nation land within San Juan County. Navajo Nation requires coal-fired power plants to be demolished and the sites to be remediated upon closure, as happened when the Navajo Generating Station near Page, Arizona, closed in 2019.

San Juan County Attorney Joe Sawyer said the ordinance, known as Ordinance 121, is based on Montana’s law that requires the owner of coal-fired power plants to submit a plan for remediation and decommissioning to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality within 90 days of the plant’s closure.

San Juan County Commission Chairman John Beckstead said, in his opinion, the point of the ordinance is to “try to do the environmentally responsible thing for our county and our citizens. There’s been other industries in the past where things were left and there’s eyesores in the county and, frankly, I don’t want that on my shoulders.”

The ordinance also only applies if the power plant is permanently closed. The City of Farmington, a partial owner of the plant, is working to take ownership of the generating station in 2022 and transfer the majority of it to Enchant Energy. Enchant Energy hopes to retrofit the facility with carbon capture technology and keep it operating as a source of low-emissions electricity. If that is successful, the plant may have a temporary closure. The ordinance further references this plan and requires a written notice to be filed with the county within 15 days if the ownership is transferred. 

PNM opposes the ordinance

PNM spokesman Raymond Sandoval said in an email that the utility “did not have an opportunity to work with the County on a viable option due to the pace at which the ordinance was introduced.”

PNM submitted written comments to San Juan County following the introduction of the ordinance on Oct. 21 and Matthew Jaramillo with PNM attended the San Juan County Commission meeting on Tuesday to further voice concerns.

“We truly understand where the commission is coming from,” Jaramillo said.

Sandoval said that PNM’s written comments explained that the ordinance’s language is “confusing and ambiguous.”

The ordinance was amended prior to final adoption to clarify some of the language that PNM highlighted in its written comments. However, while Jaramillo said PNM appreciates the changes that were made, he said that the ordinance still has ambiguous language and conflicts with some of the various contracts that have been in place for numerous years.

But the language was not the only reason that PNM opposed the ordinance. Sandoval said the owners of the San Juan Generating Station are working on another decommissioning study to understand all the options for the site. Jaramillo said this is the third decommissioning study.

Sandoval said the utility would have preferred if San Juan County had waited for that study to be completed so that the commission would have had more information prior to passing an ordinance requiring the demolition of the facility.

“Furthermore, the ordinance could potentially raise PNM customers’ bills significantly and closes the door on future economic development opportunities at the site,” he said.

During the meeting, Jaramillo said that PNM is in discussions about possible uses of the infrastructure after the plant’s closure in 2022, however he said he was not at liberty to discuss those options due to contractual issues.

MSR and Los Alamos County express support

While PNM expressed some concerns about the ordinance, representatives from MSR Public Power Agency and Los Alamos County who attended the meeting in person on Tuesday urged the commission to adopt it. MSR is a California-based utility that formerly owned a portion of the power plant. Meanwhile, Los Alamos County is one of the current owners of a share of unit four of the generating station.

Their support of the demolition immediately following closure is consistent with testimony they have filed in the Avangrid and PNM merger case that is pending before the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission.

Martin Hopper, MSR general manager, said, as former owners of the power plant, MSR wants to do the right thing and “we see the goals and desires of this county as being in harmony with our desire to do the right thing. And we believe doing the right thing will, in the long term, be the least cost, least risk way of dealing with the generating station.”

Hopper said MSR wants to see the site remediated, demolished and put to a new use for economic development in the county.

Further, Hopper said delaying the demolition of the plant to a future date could mean that utility customers who never benefited from the electricity produced at San Juan Generating Station are forced to pay for the clean up and demolition of the site. And, he said, the electric utility industry is rapidly changing and companies that are currently financially stable could be in a very different situation in a few decades.

Steve Cummins, the deputy utility manager for Los Alamos County’s electric utility, said the San Juan Generating Station has been a key resource for helping serve the load, including Los Alamos National Laboratory. 

“Because we are a small utility and industry’s changing so fast moving toward renewables and other things, we at the county would like to see the plant fully demolished so that we could also meet our obligations and move into the future,” he said. “We feel that having a huge obligation remaining out there for many years to come if it were to remain standing would probably prevent us, or change some of the investments that we might make as a small utility.”

We're ad free

That means that we rely on support from readers like you. Help us keep reporting on the most important New Mexico Stories by donating today.

Related

Emily’s List endorses seven candidates for Legislature

Emily’s List endorses seven candidates for Legislature

Emily’s List, a nonprofit that supports women candidates and reproductive rights, endorsed seven incumbents facing general election opponents in New Mexico legislative elections. All…
Equality New Mexico endorses 15 legislative candidates

Equality New Mexico endorses 15 legislative candidates

A New Mexico-based LGBTQ rights organization endorsed 15 candidates for state House and Senate seats for the 2024 elections.  Marshall Martinez, executive director of…
Lujan Grisham pocket vetoes two bills

Lujan Grisham pocket vetoes two bills

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham pocket vetoed two bills the legislature passed this legislative session: one changing the Cybersecurity Act and the other concerning law…
BLM announces final methane waste rule

BLM announces final methane waste rule

The federal Bureau of Land Management announced its final methane waste rule on Wednesday. These new regulations clamp down on the practice of venting…
What consumers, farmers should know about the flu impacting dairy cows

What consumers, farmers should know about the flu impacting dairy cows

Migrating birds appear to have caused a virus in dairy cattle that is causing reduced milk production. So far, the disease, which initially started…
Republicans seek to limit national monument designations

Republicans seek to limit national monument designations

Republican-backed legislation in the U.S. Congress would make it harder for the government to designate new national monuments. The proposed Congressional Oversight of the…
Amid new graduation requirements, what do high schoolers want to learn?

Amid new graduation requirements, what do high schoolers want to learn?

By Margaret O’Hara, The Santa Fe New Mexican The main things that bring Brayan Chavez to school every day: Seeing, talking to and engaging with…
Special ed teachers hope lawmakers OK pay raises, admin changes

Special ed teachers hope lawmakers OK pay raises, admin changes

By Margaret O’Hara, The Santa Fe New Mexican Brittany Behenna Griffith has a laundry list of adjectives to describe the ideal special education teacher:…
Lawmakers must find consensus on competing education spending plans

Lawmakers must find consensus on competing education spending plans

By Margaret O’Hara, The Santa Fe New Mexican A challenging task awaits New Mexico lawmakers in the next 30 days: Reconciling three very different…
Health workers fear it’s profits before protection as CDC revisits airborne transmission

Health workers fear it’s profits before protection as CDC revisits airborne transmission

Amy Maxmen, KFF Health News Four years after hospitals in New York City overflowed with covid-19 patients, emergency physician Sonya Stokes remains shaken by…
Lujan Grisham, Biden admin announce $10 million in federal funds for tribes, pueblos

Lujan Grisham, Biden admin announce $10 million in federal funds for tribes, pueblos

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Friday $10 million in funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act was awarded to six tribal nations and…
Proposal to curb executive powers moves to House Judiciary

Proposal to curb executive powers moves to House Judiciary

The House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee discussed a potential constitutional amendment that seeks to limit the governor’s executive powers. The committee approved…
U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case about the regulations around mifepristone, one of a two-step regime for abortion medication, on Tuesday. FDA v.…
At stake in mifepristone case: Abortion, FDA’s authority, and return to 1873 obscenity law

At stake in mifepristone case: Abortion, FDA’s authority, and return to 1873 obscenity law

Lawyers from the conservative Christian group that won the case to overturn Roe v. Wade are returning to the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday in pursuit…
Supreme Court to hear two abortion cases this spring

Supreme Court to hear two abortion cases this spring

Later this month, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the case against the abortion medication mifepristone. It will hear a second…
New Mexico Medicaid to cover cost of over-the-counter oral contraception

New Mexico Medicaid to cover cost of over-the-counter oral contraception

New Mexico Medicaid announced on Wednesday that it will cover the cost of Opill, the first oral contraception approved for over-the-counter use. It is…
U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case about the regulations around mifepristone, one of a two-step regime for abortion medication, on Tuesday. FDA v.…
At stake in mifepristone case: Abortion, FDA’s authority, and return to 1873 obscenity law

At stake in mifepristone case: Abortion, FDA’s authority, and return to 1873 obscenity law

Lawyers from the conservative Christian group that won the case to overturn Roe v. Wade are returning to the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday in pursuit…
San Juan County, Navajo Nation settle redistricting case

San Juan County, Navajo Nation settle redistricting case

The Navajo Nation and San Juan County reached an agreement Monday about commission districts after the tribe alleged that its members were not adequately…
MIT ranks NM elections most well-run in the U.S.

MIT ranks NM elections most well-run in the U.S.

New Mexico’s 2022 election was ranked most well-run in the country by Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Election Data and Science Lab’s Elections Performance Index.…
Emily’s List endorses seven candidates for Legislature

Emily’s List endorses seven candidates for Legislature

Emily’s List, a nonprofit that supports women candidates and reproductive rights, endorsed seven incumbents facing general election opponents in New Mexico legislative elections. All…
BLM announces final methane waste rule

BLM announces final methane waste rule

The federal Bureau of Land Management announced its final methane waste rule on Wednesday. These new regulations clamp down on the practice of venting…
U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case about the regulations around mifepristone, one of a two-step regime for abortion medication, on Tuesday. FDA v.…
What consumers, farmers should know about the flu impacting dairy cows

What consumers, farmers should know about the flu impacting dairy cows

Migrating birds appear to have caused a virus in dairy cattle that is causing reduced milk production. So far, the disease, which initially started…

GET INVOLVED

© 2023 New Mexico Political Report