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Public Service Company of New Mexico asked state regulators on Monday to approve contracts for more than 1,600 megawatts of new renewable energy from projects across the state, replacing power lost when the utility exits the Four Corners Generating Station.

PNM, in a filing with the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission, said it will shed all of the coal plants from its electric grid by 2031 鈥� including the Four Corners plant in San Juan County 鈥� in an effort to comply with the Energy Transition Act, a priority of Gov. Michele Lujan Grisham in the 2019 legislative session. The law requires utility companies to transition to 100% carbon-free power generation by 2045.

Nonetheless, despite the law鈥檚 mandate to transition away from fossil fuels, PNM asked the commission in a filing to add more natural-gas power to its electric grid.

PNM wants to extend the life of its Reeves Generating Station, a 146-megawatt natural-gas plant in sa国际传媒官网网页入口, until 2044. In its 2022 integrated resource plan, PNM said it would retire the plant 鈥� which first went into service in 1959 鈥� by 2030.

PNM also asked regulators to add another 40 megawatts of natural gas to its grid. The new natural-gas turbines will be built at the existing La Luz Energy Center in Valencia County, a roughly 40-megawatt natural-gas plant that first came into service in 2015.

鈥淔oundationally, PNM must provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective service to customers,鈥� PNM said in the filing, justifying its request to extend the life of the Reeves plant.

Under the Energy Transition Act, investor-owned utilities such as PNM must transition to 50% renewable energy by 2030 and 80% by 2040. PNM, in a news release Monday announcing the filing, said it will be 80% carbon free by 2032.

PNM forecasted a 40% increase in customer electricity demand by 2032, 鈥渄riven by load growth and the state鈥檚 economic development efforts.鈥� The capital investments to keep up with the load growth are a part of the utility鈥檚 $4.9 billion, five-year investment plan.

In addition to complying with the state鈥檚 renewable-energy mandate, PNM is faced with the additional challenge of the prospect of large industrial data centers hooking into the power grid in the coming years.

PNM said in the release that 鈥渓arge-load customers need to cover the incremental costs they are adding to the system and pay for a share of the existing system.鈥�

鈥淭his filing makes clear that existing customers should not bear costs added to the system by new large-load customers,鈥� PNM said in an executive summary of its request.

PNM is making the requests as New York-based Blackstone Inc. is proposing to acquire PNM鈥檚 parent company, TXNM Energy Inc. Critics of the deal have alleged that Blackstone may intermingle its utility and data center businesses in New Mexico.

But PNM, in its Monday news release, denied any connection between its large-load customers and Blackstone, saying that none 鈥渁re in any way affiliated with鈥� the company.

PNM also asked state regulators to approve contracts for 800 megawatts of new wind-generated power, 240 megawatts of solar power and 610 megawatts of battery storage.

PNM asked the commission to approve power purchase agreements for the Palomas Wind farm in San Miguel and Torrance counties for a combined 800 megawatts. Delivery of that wind power will require construction of a new 345-kilovolt transmission line, PNM said.

PNM also asked for approval of contracts to purchase power from the 150-megawatt Cat Hills solar farm in Valencia County, which will also be paired with 150 megawatts of battery storage.

A contract for power from the 90-megawatt Wildcat solar farm in McKinley County, paired with 50 megawatts of battery storage, also needs commission approval, as do contracts with battery facilities in Sandoval and Torrance counties.

All the requests are subject to approval by the three PRC commissioners.

Justin Horwath covers tech and energy for the Journal. You can reach him at jhorwath@abqjournal.com.