FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, February 25, 2019
CONTACT: Thomas Young, Sierra Club Regional Communications Manager, thomas.young@sierraclub.org
New Study Finds Renewable Energy Investments Cost $94 Million Less Than Gas-fired Power Plants
New Mexico – A study released this morning finds a mix of renewable energy, battery storage, and energy efficiency is the lowest-cost option for Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) to replace the coal-fired San Juan Generating Station. San Juan is on track to close in 2022.
This new analysis, conducted by Synapse Energy Economics, shows an all-clean-energy replacement is 1.5 percent less expensive through 2036 than replacing the power with new gas plants. In total, this combination of new clean energy can save PNM customers $94 million, and that doesn’t even account for cost savings resulting from improved environmental and public health.
“Coal and gas have always been the most polluting energy sources, and now they cost New Mexico families and businesses the most on electricity bills,” says Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign Regional Director, Evan Gillespie. “Building new renewable energy and battery storage infrastructure is the most reliable and lowest-cost way to meet New Mexico’s electricity needs.”
“The energy economy looks very different in the Southwest today than even just a couple years ago. There is no question the lowest-cost way to provide electricity in New Mexico is with renewables, battery storage, and energy efficiency,” says Sierra Club New Mexico Chapter Director Camilla Feibelman. “Now we have to make sure our state’s coal communities benefit from this growing 21st-century clean-energy economy.”
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