New Mexico is the nation’s second-largest oil producer and fourth-largest gas producer. The oil and gas industry is the state’s largest private sector funder and a massive driver of state budget revenues. Currently, the state is pursuing an aggressive 100% clean grid by 2045 and net-zero emissions by 2050. These goals were established by executive orders in 2019, but not enacted by the legislature. Unlike other energy-producing states like Pennsylvania and Illinois, New Mexico has no nuclear generation and very little hydropower for carbon-free baseload generation. The state’s push for retiring gas generation without firm-power replacements that are fully scaled risks capacity shortfalls, price spikes, and driving industrial investments to other states.
The good news is that New Mexico is not facing the dramatic spikes in energy demand and prices that many other states are experiencing. However, doubling down on climate goals without regard for the on-the-ground realities could throw the state into a world of energy scarcity and high prices.
A reasoned and pragmatic approach to lowering carbon emissions should take precedence over arbitrary net-zero dates that do not prioritize the realities of New Mexico’s economic drivers, jobs, energy costs, and grid reliability.
