Call issued for more clean energy in Public Service Company of New Mexico's portfolio Additional Contacts: Charlotte
Levinson, PNM shareholder, 505.603.1686 ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico - As a large crowd outside called for more clean energy in Public Service Company of New Mexico's portfolio, shareholders at PNM headquarters voted on resolutions to direct the company to take into account the risks of climate change to its finances and to ratepayers. The first resolution would assess the portfolio impacts of policies to keep global warming under 2 degrees Celsius. The shareholder-advisory company ISS recommended support, saying “shareholders would benefit from additional information about the impact that climate-change regulations might have on the company and its operations.” The second requested that PNM publish an assessment of assets that might become stranded as a result of climate change and demand reductions, and on the financial risks of those stranded assets. ISS also recommended a Yes vote on this resolution. Neither resolution passed at PNM’s annual meeting Tuesday, though shareholder Charlotte Levinson told the large crowd at a clean-energy rally outside PNM headquarters Tuesday morning that shareholders of Occidental Petroleum passed similar resolutions this week. Levinson said just bringing these resolutions puts pressure on PNM to consider these issues. "PNM has acted at a snail's pace to ends its dependence on climate-altering fossil generation. It is encouraging to see that even the investor owners are demanding a rapid transition to clean energy, for our economy and our survivability," said Mariel Nanasi, Executive Director, New Energy Economy. David Coss, Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter chair, said: “As PNM is finally acknowledging that market forces have made its coal power uneconomical, it's time for the company to plan for community and worker transition, including clean-energy reinvestment in the Four Corners communities. This should be a top priority in PNM's planning.” Eleanor Bravo, Food & Water Watch Southwest director, said, “A just transition to renewables must be a mandate, leaving the devastation of fracking and pipelines in the past. Private companies like PNM need to gain awareness of the gravity of climate change and provide their customers with a 100% clean-energy option.” “Since 2008, PNM ratepayers have paid 30% more for electricity than others in the Southwest, while New Mexican household income has decreased by 6%,” said Rebecca Sobel, senior climate and energy campaigner for WildEarth Guardians. “PNM executives ignore the case for renewables and are no better than Trump’s cronies, expecting the public to bail out billionaires. Fossil-fuel futures are down, and PNM should be more concerned with raising up the interest of ratepayers instead of forcing us to sink more money into dirty and dangerous stranded assets.” Background: Renewable energy costs less, in every way:
When PNM issued an all-source request for proposal in 2016, it received market bids for a price of 4.2¢/kWh for solar and 3.3¢/kWh wind, both significantly below current costs of coal (7¢/kWh) and nuclear (9.5 ¢/kWh). |
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