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County staff summarizes biennial water and energy conservation update; public input slated before 2027 plan
Summary
At the March 20 Environmental Sustainability Board meeting, staff reviewed the county's biennial water and energy conservation update, described data and program changes and said formal public input for the next plan will begin early next year for a plan scheduled to begin in 2027.
Abby (staff member) presented the Los Alamos County Water and Energy Conservation Plan biannual update to the Environmental Sustainability Board on March 20, outlining data updates, program progress and planned public outreach. "Next year, we will be doing our more formal public input for the next version of the plan, which will begin in 2027," Abby said.
The update compiles revised consumption charts and program-status matrices, integrates portions of the county's Climate Action Plan public comments where they overlap with utilities, and highlights changes such as a modification to the Board of Public Utilities' (BPU) gas goal that removes the per-capita metric in favor of an absolute therms-reduction target. Abby told the board the report includes weather-data drawn from LANL's weather monitoring and adds new graphs, including gas consumption plotted against heating-degree days to better show winter impacts.
Board members asked questions about conflicts between planning documents, population and housing projections and rate impacts. Herman (board member) raised the funding concern that reduced consumption could leave the county with the same infrastructure costs on a smaller revenue base; Abby said rate-setting is a separate finance discussion but acknowledged it is a countywide concern as communities consider natural gas reduction strategies. Jill De Haven (board member) and others pressed staff on population and housing assumptions; Abby said population projections rely on U.S. Census figures and a University of New Mexico Bureau of Business and Economic Research county forecast and that housing counts in the packet had not been updated.
The update document uses a simple status system: completed items marked in green, canceled projects marked with a red X and items pending or moved shown without a check. Abby noted one example of a canceled project, the county's previously considered carbon-free power project, which the update marks as ceased and explains. The document also includes appendix material compiling a sample of Climate Action Plan public comments and a separate appendix tracking outreach activities, including work by the county's education contractor, PEAK.
Board discussion touched on equity and implementation concerns. Members asked whether the county coordinates its conservation work with neighboring jurisdictions; Abby said the next plan cycle will include more outreach and external coordination. Members also discussed electrification issues such as time-of-use rates and the practicalities of switching from gas to induction cooking, including battery-backed induction and service-upgrade considerations for homes that might lose cooking capability during power outages.
The board did not take formal action on the update at the meeting; Abby said she will provide the document link to board members and continue to refine housing and population inputs for future updates.
