In the closing days of the winter 2025 session, members of the New Mexico State Legislature approved a bill that will, if signed into law, advance grid technologies and ease transmission congestion across the state.
As proposed by Democrat Representative Kristina Ortiz, House Bill 93 provides a foundation for both a more efficient as well as resilient electric grid.
In pushing for the legislation, Oritz remarked that in integrating “advanced grid technologies into our planning process, we are not only improving grid efficiency and reliability but also ensuring that New Mexicans have access to affordable and resilient energy.”
The measure, which was approved overwhelmingly in the House on March 5 on a vote of 52 to 8, passed the Senate two weeks later by 37 to 4.
The bill has won the support of a number of energy advocacy groups, including the association Advanced Energy United, whose New Mexico director Michael Barrio noted: “Our current transmission grid is strained with electricity bottlenecks that drive up costs for consumers and put our energy system at risk.”
Officially called the Advanced Grid Technology Plan, the bill additionally lays out the criteria to be followed for the state’s Public Regulation Commission in approving new utility projects to ensure “consistency with the state’s modernization planning.”
If Democrat Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signs the bill into law, it will become officially effective on July 1.
March 28, 2025
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy of Pixabay
