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Committee approves NMFA Local Solar Access Fund rules with rural prioritization and county caps
Summary
The oversight committee approved NMFA’s revised Local Solar Access Fund rules, which lower grant ceilings, add prioritization criteria (community impact, financial need and rural focus), cap any single-county share at 25% and require NMFA to coordinate with Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources.
The legislative oversight committee approved updated rules to implement the Local Solar Access Fund after NMFA staff presented redline changes and answered detailed questions about rural prioritization and program mechanics.
NMFA’s staff reduced technical assistance grants from $200,000 to $50,000 and lowered maximum project grants from $4,000,000 to $1,000,000 following technical recommendations from the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD). The rules add an ‘‘urban’’ definition (a continuously built area with a population of 60,000 or more) to help distinguish rural eligibility and include prioritization factors such as community impact, projected long-term electric operating cost reductions, emergency resilience benefits and geographic dispersion.
NMFA counsel and program staff said policy details and technical review teams will be developed in consultation with EMNRD and that final program policies (including outreach, language access and scoring weights) will be codified in an MOA and in program guidance before applications are accepted. NMFA staff told the committee they want at least 60% of funding to prioritize rural eligible entities and set a concentration limit of no more than 25% of the fund to any single county.
Representative Cates moved to approve the rule package and Representative Roybal Caballero seconded. Representative Block recorded the single objection that was noted on the record; the committee nevertheless approved the rules and instructed NMFA to finalize operational policies with EMNRD. NMFA said it expects the program to stand up in early 2026 and will work on application materials and outreach to ensure rural communities have access to technical assistance and grants.
Next steps: NMFA will finalize policies and a memorandum of agreement with EMNRD, produce application materials (including language access and outreach plans), and aim to start accepting applications in early 2026.
