Committee advances grid-modernization bill tied to $100M community benefit fund; amendment removes direct appropriation

Senate Finance Committee members advanced Senate Bill 142, a measure to expand the statutory definition of "grid modernization," make more project types eligible for grants (including school districts) and require the PRC and the state'appointed energy office to coordinate when setting a grid modernization roadmap.

Sponsors and staff said the bill is intended to remove barriers that prevent community solar and other clean-energy projects from connecting to the grid; testimony noted that projects often cannot connect because local distribution or substation capacity is absent. Committee discussion emphasized speed of deployment as a factor for targeted funding decisions.

Witnesses in support included Deborah Condit of Inner West Energy Alliance (a trade association for wind, solar, storage and transmission), Dean Archuleta of PNM and Camilla Feibelman of the Sierra Club. Testimony urged the Legislature to use state grant money to address interconnection barriers, with proponents pointing to economic-development examples where utilities invested ahead of demand to enable data centers and other large users.

Committee staff and sponsors said a community benefit fund established in prior legislation includes a $100 million appropriation for modernization activities; committee members adopted an amendment that struck a direct appropriation in SB142 itself. Committee members asked how notification requirements in the bill would interact with PRC authority; staff said the notice requirement would trigger utilities'normal planning processes but does not, on its own, require a utility to absorb a newly built resource.

The committee reported SB142 as amended with a do-pass recommendation.