Curry County approves Solstice community solar subscription for county facilities

The Curry County Commission on Tuesday approved a community solar subscription agreement with Solstice Power Technologies LLC to enroll county-owned buildings in New Mexico's Community Solar Program established by Senate Bill 84.

The decision followed a presentation from a Solstice representative, who said the state's program launched enrollment in April 2025 and approved 40 projects in round one (about 200 megawatts). The presenter said the state program requires developers to provide discounts on bill credits: 10% applied to municipalities and other mass-market subscribers and 28% for low-to-moderate-income households. He said half the program capacity in round one was designated for residential low-to-moderate-income customers and half for municipalities, nonprofits and other mass-market subscribers.

"Community solar lets a municipality access clean energy without installing equipment on-site," the presenter said, explaining dual billing and the subscription model. He described a one-year subscription that renews automatically, a 90-day notice to cancel when capacity limits require it, and no termination penalty.

Solstice disclosed an estimated Year-1 administrative fee for the county subscription package of $6,501.39 and projected net Year-1 savings of about $12,001.81 for the 13 county facilities proposed for participation. County legal counsel said he had reviewed the contract and that his remaining concerns (choice-of-law and an arbitration clause) had been addressed; an opt-out for arbitration was added.

Commissioners asked about local project locations and Solstice's role. The presenter said Solstice is a subscription manager (not the developer) and that at least two community solar projects were identified north of Clovis (identified in the presentation as "Clovis Concrete North" and a site the developer called "Curry Concrete/Curry Road"). Xcel Energy representatives in the room said they are upgrading some distribution lines in the area to support community solar interconnection.

Commissioner Martin asked whether other municipalities had completed enrollment; Solstice said municipalities have met with county and school officials but full enrollments by municipalities were still in progress. The commission heard that only New Mexico customers and organizations can receive credits from New Mexico community solar farms.

The commission approved the subscription agreement by unanimous voice/roll-call vote. The contract authorizes county administration to proceed with enrollment for county-owned facilities and accepts the disclosed Year-1 administrative fee and estimated savings for budgeting and planning.

What happens next: county staff will work with Solstice and the county's utility contacts to enroll the listed facilities and complete the subscriber paperwork required by the utilities.