Electricity for Santa Fe’s Water Supply

Santa Fe recently announced their intention to award PNM a contract for the 27 million kilowatt-hours of electricity needed per year to pump drinking water from the planned Buckman Direct Diversion to Santa Fe. Were the operating cost estimates for this system calculated using last years electricity price, this years price, or next years? What escalation rate for electricity prices was used in the forward projection of costs? Based on the recent and proposed rate hikes, an increase of 17.5 percent per year may be reasonable. Will the proposed 9.5 percent per year increase in water rates be enough to cover that?

Norm Guame, the City’s consultant on the project, said that alternatives to awarding PNM the electricity contract were unfeasible, risky, and uncertain.

Does is seem odd that our least risky alternative is to entrust our drinking water supply to a company with a plummeting stock price, that is owned by global investment firms, that has raised rates by 17 percent this year and is seeking another 18 percent hike next year, and that is under investigation by the State Environment Department?

Could it be time to consider an alternative energy supply for Santa Fe?