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Committee tables bill that would let utilities count rooftop solar generation toward RPS totals
Summary
The House Energy, Environment & Natural Resources Committee tabled House Bill 452 after debate over whether counting on-site distributed generation toward utilities’ renewable portfolio standard would transfer value from homeowners to utilities and conflict with existing rules.
The House Energy, Environment & Natural Resources Committee on Thursday tabled House Bill 452, a proposal to clarify how New Mexico counts renewable energy generated by distributed generation (most commonly rooftop solar) toward investor-owned utilities’ Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS).
Sponsor and panelists said the measure aims only to count generation that remains on the customer side of the meter, not to require utilities to buy renewables credits (RECs) from homeowners. Representative Freire, who introduced the bill, said the measure "is only about counting how much renewable energy is out there" and that it would help regulators and the public know where New Mexico stands as the state moves toward 100% clean generation.
The bill drew split testimony from utilities, renewable advocates and labor representatives. A PNM representative told the committee, "PNM supports HB452," stressing the utility’s view that counting all renewable production on its system gives a fuller picture of the total renewable supply. The Sierra Club’s Camilla Feibelman opposed the bill, arguing that under net metering "the associated utility pays the customer in the form of a bill credit for the energy that the customer exports into the grid," and that utilities should not be allowed to claim RECs for on-site consumption without paying homeowners for those credits.
Lawmakers pressed parties on a variety of technical and legal points during committee questioning. Representative Dixon read from the fiscal impact report and agency analysis, noting the state agencies flagged a possible conflict: "the proposed language conflicts with the current New Mexico Administrative Code 17.9.5.72.10(c," which currently allows utilities to be credited only for excess energy delivered to the grid from qualifying net-metered facilities. Staff and the sponsor said the bill's intent is to clarify counting, not to create a purchase requirement, but members said the language and the policy implications were confusing.
Representative Montoya and other members expressed concern that allowing utilities to count on-site generation could reduce the incentive for utilities to build new renewable capacity and could shift costs to customers who do not have rooftop systems. Others said a fuller accounting of distributed generation could help the Public Regulation Commission (PRC) assess progress toward statutory RPS targets. No technical changes were adopted during the hearing.
After debate, Representative Small moved to table the bill. The motion was adopted and the committee tabled HB452. Chair McQueen told the sponsor the committee would need clearer goals and clarified language before the bill could move forward.
The committee did not adopt changes or set a new hearing date for the bill.
Ending: The bill remains tabled; sponsors and stakeholders said they would continue work on clarifying the language and the goals before bringing the matter back to the committee.
