May 17, 2018 • EPE Related News
Las Cruces Sun News: PRC commissioner says donation flap has stalled solar program
LAS CRUCES - A proposal by El Paso Electric to create a new Community Solar Program for New Mexico residents was sent to a hearing officer Wednesday by the Public Regulation Commission.
George De La Torre, a spokesman for El Paso Electric, said the decision was expected.
“This is a pilot program, a new type of program, so, definitely they need to work out the details of the program, especially since we’re trying to offer it to low-income households,” he said. ”All of those things need to get flushed out through this process.”
PRC Commissioner Sandy Jones said Friday that the process could have been sped up, if not for the company selected to build the project, Affordable Solar.
Instead of going through the traditional hearing process, the PRC could have issued a certificate of convenience and necessity. That would have allowed a 60-day waiting period. And, if there were no complaints or issues raised by staff during the 60 days, the project could have moved forward, Jones said.
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“There’s a reason why that got sent to a hearing examiner instead of being just suspended and set out there for 60 days, because we had a commissioner ask who was going to build the solar facility," Jones said. "And guess who it was. They apparently had a bidding process, and it was Affordable Solar.
“And so now you’ve got all of these red flags going up because of this controversy that’s going around. And so the commissioners got scared and they said we better not mess with this. We’d better have a hearing officer look at this," Jones said. "I think that’s a bad result."
The controversy involved an earlier proposal for Affordable Solar to build five solar-generating facilities for Public Service Company of New Mexico. The PRC hearing officer in that case recommended against approval of the proposal, arguing that PNM had not proven it would be the most cost-effective way to procure renewable energy. The PRC voted 3-2 to overrule that recommendation and approve the project.
The Santa Fe New Mexican later reported that Affordable Solar had made campaign donations of $13,000 to Jones and another $4,500 to PRC Commissioner Linda Lovejoy, who also voted to approve the proposal against the recommendation of the hearing officer.
Jones said Friday that there was nothing improper about those donations, and that Affordable Solar was awarded the contract because it was the lowest bidder..
“I have nothing to do with the bid process. I have nothing to do with how they award it. Zero," Jones said. "All I have to do is to decide whether or not the total overall cost is fair, just and reasonable.”
He said there was no question that the donations were legal.
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“I did nothing wrong. Nothing. There’s no question, they are not a regulated entity, no way, no how,” he said. “You couldn’t find a stretch to have any problem with that donation, none."
New Mexico law makes it illegal for a PRC candidate to accept "anything of value, either directly or indirectly, from a person whose charges for services to the public are regulated by the commission.
Affordable Solar is not regulated by the PRC, Jones said
Earlier in the week, Steve Fischmann, Jones’ opponent in the Democratic primary, sent a letter to the Secretary of State’s Office asking if the donations were improper.
Before that, the Jones campaign said Fischmann had improperly accepted donationsfrom intervenors, those who have participated in previous cases.
The same statute cited above also states that PRC candidates can not "accept anything of value from a regulated entity, affiliated interest or intervenor. For the purposes of this paragraph, a commissioner may accept allowable campaign contributions when campaigning for reelection."
Fischmann said he interprets that to mean donations from intervenors are allowed as part of an election. Both candidates said they were hoping to get some clarity from the Secretary of State's Office, but had not heard back from them yet.
Republican PRC candidate Ben Hall said he has also requested that the donations by Affordable Solar be investigated.
Jones said he is confident that the PNM deal will be upheld in court, and that the protests will only serve to delay the start of renewable energy projects in the state, causing more fossil fuels to be burned in the meantime,
De La Torre said El Paso Electric was happy to see its Community Solar Project move ahead.
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The project is voluntary. It will allow customers to purchase energy from a 2 megawatt facility to be constructed in New Mexico, near the intersections of Interstates 10 and 25.
Customers will be able to purchase solar energy at a fixed rate that would not change as long as they remain in the program. There will be a separate rate for low-income customers.
“This low-income option would be a new way to make solar accessible to people who can’t afford it,” De La Torre said.
Source: https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/2018/05/12/prc-commissioner-says-donation-flap-has-stalled-solar-program/604144002/
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