ABQ gets the state’s first electric car sharing station - Elizabeth Mccall, City Desk ABQ
This story was originally published by City Desk ABQ.
Members of Albuquerque’s Public Service Company of New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment Clean Cities Coalition and Sol Housing celebrated the launch of an Affordable Mobility Platform and the first electric vehicle car share program in the state at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday.
New Mexico was one of eight states selected for this platform and it’s based at the PAH! Hiland Plaza apartments at 5000 Central Ave. SE, a housing complex designed for the deaf, deaf-blind and hard of hearing communities.
“It combines some great things, sustainability and electric vehicles, but also a speciality ride share program for individuals who are suffering from visual and auditory disabilities,” said Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller.
Created by FORTH, the Affordable Mobility Platform is a nationwide car-sharing program that is placed at affordable housing locations. At the PAH! Hiland Plaza apartments, there are two electric vehicles charging stations with two electric vehicles available to the apartment’s residents and the public. After someone uses the vehicle, they return it to the charging station so it is available for the next user.
Julie Nelson, a resident at PAH! Hiland Plaza, who is hearing and sight impaired, said she’s excited for what this will do for the future.
“I have tried to work as hard as I can to better our earth and efforts with climate change initiatives,” Nelson said. “I know there might be bugs in the system but when you compare gas vehicles to electric ones, there really is no question. This is really the sign of the future and I hope this encourages other folks to buy electric vehicles.”
Albuquerque’s Sustainability Officer and Deputy Director of Policy, Ann Simon said this initiative’s innovative, technology driven and equitable approach helps achieve the city’s climate goals while also addressing social equity.
Stansbury talks infrastructure issues at roundtable - By Nicole Maxwell, New Mexico Political Report
Democratic U.S. Representative Melanie Stansbury discussed infrastructure issues and grants that could help fix those issues during a roundtable discussion at Rio Rancho City Hall on Thursday.
Stansbury said she and her office have been working with the Biden administration to find ways to help local governments and tribal entities access federal funding for infrastructure projects.
“There are lots of existing pots of money out there and many of our local governments already have very sophisticated grant finding application processes and then we have other communities that are frankly, overworked and understaffed and don’t have those resources,” Stansbury said.
Some of the funding sources Stansbury mentioned came from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act.
“A lot of people don’t realize that (the Inflation Reduction Act) included also billions of dollars in funding for water projects, clean energy projects, economic development partnerships, opportunities to retrofit homes for energy efficiency, it just has a whole slew of different kinds of programs that that can both benefit residents of your communities as well as invest in infrastructure that cities and villages may want to invest in,” Stansbury said.
Many attendees said the problem was not the availability of funding, but rather that the grant application process could be daunting to navigate.
Stansbury replied that one of the reasons for this roundtable was to find out what issues the local government or tribal entities needed to address to access the funds as well as tell them that funding was available.
INFRASTRUCTURE ASSISTANCE AT STATE LEVEL
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s Infrastructure Advisor Rebecca Roose spoke about funding available at the state level and updates including HB 232 which would set up an Infrastructure Planning and Development Division within the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration.
The Legislature passed the bill, and it currently sits on Lujan Grisham’s desk.
“So you’ve heard the congresswoman talk about the difficulty navigating all the funding sources, figuring out how to navigate state funding plus federal funding (and) how to most effectively use your capital outlay planning process,” Roose said. “This new division is building on some existing components within DFA and adding new capacity and it’s likely to be the group at DFA that manages the match fund as well.”
The New Mexico Federal Matching Grant helps local government or tribal entities to be granted funds to help them pay match funds on federal grants.
A match fund is what the local government or tribal entity is expected to pay to meet eligibility for federal grants. For example, a federal grant could require a county applying for a federal grant for a project to come up with 15 percent of the total funding of the project.
The New Mexico Federal Matching Grant would help that county pay the required match funds.
FEDERAL BUDGET EARMARKS
The annual federal budget process involves earmarks, now called Community Funded Projects, which are submitted by members of Congress to the House Committee on Appropriations, which will decide if the projects should be written into the appropriations budget.
This is similar to the state capital outlay process in which local government or tribal entities submit their Infrastructure Capital Improvements Plan and the legislature decides how much, if any, funding should go to the projects on the submitted lists.
Stansbury suggested, as a former state legislator, that ICIP’s be submitted in the summer since state legislators do not know what the budget may look like until two weeks or so into the regular session.
“ At that point, then… many of the legislators sort of prioritize… what came in the door first and who they made commitments to,” Stansbury said.
Attendees included representatives from Sandoval County, Rio Rancho, Santa Ana Pueblo, Southern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Authority and the governor’s office.
Stansbury said she plans to hold more roundtable discussions about infrastructure throughout 2024.
Shorter breaks approved for next year’s school calendar - Rodd Cayton, City Desk ABQ
This story was originally published by City Desk ABQ.
Albuquerque Public Schools students will see shorter Thanksgiving and spring breaks next year, as the Board of Education approved a slightly different academic calendar for the 2024-2025 school year.
There will also be more five-day weeks of instruction. Students will begin school on Aug. 7 and May 30, 2025 will be the last day of school.
The unanimous vote came after board members modified a staff recommendation to shorten Thanksgiving Break from a full week to three days. The change was precipitated by members’ concerns about student nutrition and more time outside the classroom.
The school year will begin on a Wednesday, allowing for two days of professional development right before classes begin.
The calendar includes 184 days of instruction, which exceeds the 180 now required by state law. That’s two more instructional days than this year, allowing each school day to be shortened by 15 minutes.
The change means that teachers will not be beginning and ending their work days at the same time that students are starting and ending classes. All K-12 teachers will have 15 minutes built into their paid hours to cover morning or afternoon supervision of students.
Other changes include a single day off for Labor Day; this year, it was a two-day break. Students will also get Election Day off.
There are six professional development days built into the calendar, along with two additional parent-teacher conferences during the school year for grades 6 to 12.
Spring Break, March 17-21, will be aligned with the University of New Mexico’s break. It’s also shortened from this school year’s eight-day break.
Dr. Channell Segura, the Chief of Schools, said the calendar committee placed a priority on minimizing disruption to instructional pacing and that students will have 27 uninterrupted five-day weeks in 2024-25, three more than the current school year.
Segura said the calendar was developed based on feedback from students, staff, families, and the community, along with state requirements. More than 13,000 people took part in a December calendar survey.
“We have worked in tandem to make sure that we are meeting the rule of law as well as listening to community feedback, which has been a lot and we’re grateful for that,” Segura said. “Part of it is we want to please everybody, but we can’t. A development of an instructional calendar for a district this large is a heavy lift—especially when that legislation is up in the air, and there could be additional changes.”
College and Career High School will operate under a different calendar, which is aligned with that of Central New Mexico Community College.
ELEMENTARY BOUNDARY CHANGES CLEARED
The board also approved the conversion of Duranes Elementary School into an early childhood center and the relocation of its students to two other campuses this fall.
The approved boundary changes mean Duranes students will move to Cochiti and Reginald Chavez elementary schools. The move is part of an APS “right-sizing effort” as the district deals with declining enrollment. According to the agenda, there are now 191 students living in the Duranes attendance area—a number that is projected to fall to 148 by the 2027-2028 school year.
The board approved the changes without much debate, after district staff explained some details of the plans for the transition. Kizito Wijenje, executive director of APS’ Capital Master Plan, said that Cochiti and Reginald Chavez will continue to send their students to the same middle and high schools; Garfield Middle School and Valley High School for the former and Washington Middle School and Albuquerque High School for the latter.
K-5 staff at Duranes will be given priorities in terms of new assignments, said Dr. Gabriella Durán Blakey, the district’s chief operations officer. She said families with children at Duranes will also have priority when it comes to transfer requests to other schools.
Blakey said that staff hosted meetings to discuss the proposed boundaries and their impacts to all three school communities. She said that community members have been open to the changes.
Board President Danielle Gonzales, whose district includes Duranes, said she has met with parents, school staff and others and hosted a community conversation on the topic.
“Across the board, I heard support and agreement,” she told her colleagues.
Wijenje said a March meeting will inform families about the next steps in the process.
Negligence or scapegoating? Trial of 'Rust' armorer begins in fatal shooting by Alec Baldwin - By Morgan Lee, Associated Press
Prosecutors sought to pin blame on a movie weapons supervisor for bringing live ammunition on set and "unprofessional and sloppy" work that contributed to the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin during production of the film "Rust," as the first trial in the death began Thursday.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was the armorer for the Western movie, has pleaded not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on Oct. 21, 2021, during rehearsal on a movie ranch outside Santa Fe.
Baldwin, who was pointing the gun at Hutchins when it went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza, is separately fighting a charge of involuntary manslaughter. No trial date has been set.
Defense attorneys say Gutierrez-Reed is not to blame and is being smeared and unfairly scapegoated. Jason Bowles told jurors that his client had to perform two jobs on "Rust" while being rushed — and that her requests for more resources went unanswered by her manager.
Jurors watched police body camera videos of the harrowing, chaotic scene after the shooting, with medical personnel treating a wounded and semiconscious Hutchins and loading her into an ambulance as a helicopter arrived. A sheriff's deputy and lieutenant narrated their efforts to corral witnesses, secure ammunition and cordon off the scene on the sprawling movie ranch.
Prosecutors said they plan to present evidence that Gutierrez-Reed unwittingly brought live ammunition onto the set, where it was expressly prohibited, and to show "how these live rounds slowly spread their way throughout the set, eventually landing in several of the actors' costumes."
They say the armorer missed multiple opportunities to ensure safety, eventually loading a live round into the gun that killed Hutchins and failing twice to properly check whether bullets in the gun were live or dummies.
"We will show you, ladies and gentlemen, that by failing to make those vital safety checks, the defendant acted negligently and without due caution," prosecutor Jason Lewis told jurors. "And the decisions that she made that day ultimately contributed to Ms. Hutchins' death."
Lead defense counsel Jason Bowles countered by pointing to findings by workplace safety regulators of broad problems that extended beyond the armorer's control. He contended that live rounds arrived on set from an Albuquerque-based supplier of dummy rounds, and that the supplier was never truly investigated.
Gutierrez-Reed, the stepdaughter of renowned sharpshooter and weapons consultant Thell Reed, was 24 when the shooting occurred.
"What they've tried to do, and what you're seeing in this courtroom today, is trying to blame it all on Hannah, a 24-year-old. Why? Because she's an easy target, she's the least powerful person on that set," Bowles said.
Bowles sought to shift blame for safety failures away from Gutierrez-Reed, and toward Baldwin and his handling of the gun during rehearsal.
"He either had his finger on the trigger and the hammer cocked, or he pulled the trigger, as he was pointing that at Ms. Hutchins and Mr. Souza," Bowles said. "You're not going to hear anything about her being in that church or firing that weapon. That was Alec Baldwin."
Baldwin has said he pulled back the gun's hammer — not the trigger — and the weapon fired.
Prosecutors initially dismissed an involuntary manslaughter charge against him in April, saying they were informed the gun might have been modified before the shooting and malfunctioned. But a more recent analysis concluded the "trigger had to be pulled or depressed sufficiently to release the fully cocked or retracted hammer of the evidence revolver," and he was re-indicted in January by a grand jury.
Bowles also said the trial will show that Baldwin did not follow a safety recommendation from Gutierrez-Reed and flouted basic principles of gun safety by pulling out the revolver in a "cross-draw" motion without specific training.
"You're going to hear that Ms. Gutierrez-Reed specifically requested to train Mr. Baldwin in a cross-draw," Bowles told jurors. "You're also going to hear that he did not do that training."
Prosecutors questioned the sheriff's deputy and lieutenant about their efforts to secure the scene and preserve evidence, and noted the moment when Gutierrez-Reed handed over the revolver, now emptied of cartridges.
In cross examinations, defense counsel asked whether officers lost sight of a storage cart for ammunition and weapons amid the turmoil and highlighted that witnesses were kept together in a way that conversations might erode reliable testimony.
The trial is scheduled to run through March 6, with more than 40 potential witnesses.
Baldwin, the lead actor and a co-producer on "Rust," doesn't appear on pretrial witness lists and could invoke protections against self-incrimination if pressed.
Gutierrez-Reed faces up to 18 months and a $5,000 fine if convicted of involuntary manslaughter. The evidence tampering charge stems from accusations that she handed a small bag of possible narcotics to another crew member after the shooting to avoid detection.
Her attorneys say that charge is an attempt to smear her character. The bag was thrown away without testing the contents, defense attorneys said.
In a separate case, Gutierrez-Reed is accused of carrying a gun into a bar in downtown Santa Fe. Her attorneys say that charge was used to try to pressure her into a false confession in the "Rust" case.
Gutierrez-Reed was responsible for storage, maintenance and handling of firearms and ammunition, and for training cast members who would be handling firearms, according to state workplace safety regulators.
Dummy rounds are typically distinguished from live bullets by a small hole in their brass cartridge, which indicates there is no explosive material inside, or by shaking the round to hear the clatter of a BB that is inserted inside.
Rust Movie Productions paid a $100,000 fine to the state following a scathing report of safety failures in violation of standard industry protocols.
City Council passes bill to help residents clean up human waste - Carolyn Carlson, City Desk ABQ
This story was originally published by City Desk ABQ
Councilors unanimously passed a bill to create a program to collect and dispose of human fecal matter residents may find on public and private properties.
According to City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn, a co-sponsor of the bill, there are at least 3,842 unhoused individuals in Albuquerque. The city operates only one 24/7 year-round public toilet in Feibelkorn’s midtown district. She and co-sponsor Nichole Rogers say that as long as there is a lack of restrooms available, this service is essential for the safety of residents and visitors.
“Defecation happens—whether you like it or not,” Fiebelkorn said during her closing remarks.
Disposing of human bio waste is not as simple as washing it into the city’s sewers and storm drains. Proper disposal must avoid polluting water sources and spreading disease and should maximize the rate of decomposition. The National Library of Medicine found that viruses like Hepatitis A and coronavirus may be present in human fecal matter. From Dec. 18, 2022 to Dec. 18, 2023, the city’s 311 center reported about 400 calls to collect human feces, according to a press release.
Councilor Louie Sanchez said that leaving human waste on public or private property is a crime and should be treated as such. He said this bill is indicative of the state of the city.
The bill directs the city administration to find and supervise a specialized biohazard contractor; direct the contractor to clean up human feces on public and private properties; coordinate with 311 to create a system where residents can report locations for the contractor to be dispatched to and track the location of where the human feces are found and the number of reports of human waste.
NM Gov asks for more collaboration with Mortgage Finance Authority to tackle homelessness, housing crisis - By Patrick Lohmann,Source New Mexico
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham attended her first-ever meeting of the Mortgage Finance Authority board Wednesday, where she asked for more collaboration with the authority to address housing shortages and homelessness.
The governor’s visit comes after she made housing one of her priorities during the legislative session that wrapped up last week, one in which lawmakers approved about $200 million in various types of housing investments. She also pushed hard for the Legislature’s approval of an executive “Office of Housing,” a proposal that the MFA lobbied againstand that ultimately died in the state Senate.
Lujan Grisham asked the MFA to appoint members to a committee who would work with counterparts from her administration to share data and ideas for addressing the housing shortage. She also proposed the two entities join forces to handle emergency calls from residents facing sudden housing crises.
“We’re circling around each other without clear insight about, ‘How much can we get done?’” the governor told the MFA board.
The state lacks at least 32,000 affordable housing units to meet demand, according to a recent MFA study. There’s been a sharp increase in homelessness across the state over the last few years. And the governor warned that new people moving into the state, including workers for three companies she said would announce openings soon, would exacerbate the housing shortage.
The MFA has been the state’s designated housing agency since 1998. It has a staff of 120 people who oversee more than 40 housing-related programs.
Executive Director Isidoro “Izzy” Hernandez told the board the authority in 2023 provided about $10.3 million to build 285 homes and oversaw $47 million to provide housing vouchers and homelessness services to about 12,000 people.
But the governor told the board that the size of the problem requires far more resources and coordination. She said that 285 homes built in a year is “fantastic,” but that making real headway would require thousands of new homes built annually.
Many of the people MFA helps, particularly those who shuffle in and out of shelters, are inefficiently served, bouncing between agencies, often at great cost to taxpayers, she said.
Board members who spoke said that more coordination could be useful, and chair Angel Reyes said he was open to the governor’s ideas.
“I look forward to whatever it means to follow up with your office and your staff to figure out how we start to make the steps to collaborate together,” he said.
This legislative session, lawmakers spent $125 million on loans for housing projects and infrastructure. They also gave the MFA’s Housing Trust Fund $50 million for the next fiscal year, on top of the roughly $37.5 million it gets each year via severance tax bond payments. Lawmakers also approved about $20 million for “statewide homelessness services.”
Hearing examiner recommends that PRC reject controversial LNG storage facility - By Hannah Grover,New Mexico Political Report
New Mexico Public Regulation Commission Hearing Examiner Anthony Medeiros recommended that the commissioners deny New Mexico Gas Company’s request to build, own and operate a controversial liquified natural gas storage facility in Rio Rancho.
Medeiros released his decision, which is more than 150 pages long, on Wednesday.
In his recommended decision, Medeiros writes that the facility would not result in a net public benefit and, thus, should not be approved. He further states that New Mexico Gas Company’s justifications for why such a facility is needed “are not clearly demonstrated.”
The proposed facility would be located on a 160-acre parcel in southern Rio Rancho on the northwest side of Bernalillo County and within the Albuquerque metropolitan area. It would take up about 25 of those 160 acres.
The area where it would be located is zoned for future industrial development.
New Mexico Gas Company hoped that the LNG storage facility would replace its current arrangement where it stores gas through a lease agreement at the Keystone Storage Facility in Texas that is owned by Kinder Morgan. The company says that it has concerns with the reliability and performance of the Keystone Storage Facility. In particular, the company pointed to the February 2011 storm that forced the utility to cut off service to more than 20,000 customers in northern New Mexico. New Mexico Gas Company officials say a LNG storage facility would make a repeat of that incident less likely. At the same time, the company did not have to cut off service to customers during a major winter storm in 2021. Instead, the utility purchased additional gas from the day-ahead and same-day markets due to Keystone not being able to provide enough stored gas. That resulted in New Mexico Gas Company spending $107 million more than it normally would have over a six-day period of time.
The company also argues that the amount it pays to store gas at Keystone is increasing and there is some uncertainty about what Kinder Morgan might charge when the contract comes up for renewal once again.
Medeiros breaks with the PRC staff in his recommendation. The staff took the position that the PRC should approve the application.
The various intervening parties in the case unanimously opposed the proposed facility.
While Bernalillo County was not among the intervening parties, the county commission passed a resolution requesting that the PRC reject the proposed facility.
Medeiros wrote that the public opposition to the LNG storage facility “cannot and should not be ignored.”
Opponents say the facility could put nearby residents and schools at risk while also increasing the costs that customers pay in rates.
Additionally, they say that the transition away from fossil fuels will lead to the facility being obsolete before New Mexico Gas Company has finished paying for it and before it reaches the end of its useful life.
The LNG facility would be $100 million more expensive over its 30-year life than a continued lease with Kinder Morgan to store gas at Keystone, according to estimates New Mexico Gas Company presented during the case.
But New Mexico Gas Company says that, by reducing the need to buy higher priced gas during extreme weather events, customers will benefit even in terms of economics.
However, the New Mexico Department of Justice, the new branding for the office of the Attorney General, argued that the facility costs are likely going to be higher than what the company presented.
Medeiros agreed with that assertion and wrote that during its first year of operation the facility would result in a net increase of $24.7 million on customers’ bills, which is substantially greater than the $3.3 million increase that New Mexico Gas Company touted.
Medeiros further notes that the potential earnings benefits of a LNG storage facility to New Mexico Gas Company’s parent company, Emera, Inc., are clearly documented, it is not as clear what the benefits will be for customers.
“While the proposed LNG Facility would undoubtedly be a more profitable venture for NMGC and its shareholders than continuing the Keystone Storage arrangement, the purported benefits to ratepayers reflected in this record are far less tangible or certain,” he wrote.
Medeiros did not address in depth the health and safety concerns regarding locating a LNG facility relatively close to schools and neighborhoods. He explained that, as he had already recommended rejecting the proposed facility, “such findings would be superfluous in any event.”
At the same time, he did note that the concerns are legitimate.
In another PRC case, New Mexico Gas Company is asking to raise customers rates. New Energy Economy filed a motion this week asking the PRC to either reject the rate increase or at least require the utility to send out a new notice to customers regarding the potential rate change. NEE says that New Mexico Gas Company’s notice provided inadequate or misleading information about the impact that the rate increase will have on customers’ bills.
Youth detox, homelessness initiatives pick up new funds - By Damon Scott,City Desk ABQ
Bernalillo County Commissioners have approved a three year, $3.5 million contract with Serenity Mesa Recovery Center as part of its Behavioral Health Initiative (BHI). The initiative passed at its regularly scheduled meeting Feb. 20. The city of Albuquerque contributed $930,000 of the funds.
Serenity Mesa is a youth detoxification center on Albuquerque’s Southwest Mesa. The sober living facility is designed for adolescents and young adults struggling with addiction. In 2014, county voters approved a new tax to support additional behavioral health services. In 2015, the BHI was formed to allocate the tax revenue toward behavioral health service providers and initiatives.
“The funding will be used to set up a medically supervised detox center within the facility, specifically designed for teens and young adults,” Commission Chair Barbara Baca said in a statement. “There is a void in services for youth ages 14-to-21 suffering from addiction to detox safely under the supervision of medical professionals.”
Officials said current options are limited to outpatient detoxification with prescribed medication, using an emergency room or inpatient psychiatric facility. Under the new contract, officials said clients could be treated in a “safe, comfortable setting” with access to a 90-day inpatient recovery treatment program, adding that there is a higher success rate for those who go through medically supervised withdrawal.
Youth addiction and detoxification is a critical issue in New Mexico and across the country. Overdose deaths for those 10-to-19 years old increased 109% from December 2019 to December 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC says fentanyl abuse is an ongoing problem as it is often mixed in with other illicit drugs and presents a painful and difficult withdrawal.
“We look forward to successful outcomes for young people to withdraw safely, reset their lives with recovery services and move forward,” Commissioner Steven Quezada said in a statement.
$3 MILLION TO GATEWAY CENTER
At the same meeting, commissioners approved $3 million for an expansion of the housing navigation center at Albuquerque’s Gateway Center at Gibson Health Hub.
The Gateway Center is the city’s multimillion dollar project designed to address a burgeoning homeless population. The 572,000 square foot facility currently offers 50 overnight beds and 35 seasonal beds, including a variety of social services for those experiencing homelessness. Officials said the county’s funding will go toward the addition of 50 “trauma-informed” overnight beds.
The city has already received $59 million from a variety of sources.
“It is imperative we make headway in our continued efforts to address homelessness, and this new addition provides the groundwork for positive outcomes and fits into our overall behavioral health programs and initiatives,” Commissioner Adriann Barboa said in a statement.
The project entails the reconstruction of a 17,000-square-foot suite located on the building’s second floor, adjacent to the existing housing navigation center. Officials said clients using the beds will have access to case management, peer support and other assistance. The project is due to be completed by the end of the year and is expected to service more than 200 people annually.
New Mexico airports get a piece of nearly $1 billion in federal grants - By Nash Jones, KUNM News
New Mexico’s congressional delegation announced today/yesterday [Thurs] that the state will see over $9 million of the nearly $1 billion in airport improvement grants the Biden administration rolled out last week.
The delegation said in a statement that the Albuquerque International Sunport will see the largest chunk of that, at $5.8 million. Meanwhile, the regional airport in Clovis will get a $3.5 million infusion for the design and construction of a new terminal.
Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández said Clovis Mayor Mike Morris earlier this year expressed to her the importance of the airport to military personnel and families stationed at Cannon Air Force Base. She says the expansion will enable the families to spend more time together.
Sen. Martin Heinrich equated airport investments with investing in New Mexico businesses and jobs, saying the modernizing efforts will “improve travelers’ experiences, and drive our state’s economic growth for the future.”
The funds come from the bipartisan infrastructure law and have been awarded to114 airports in all.
Native American tribes gain new authority to stop unwanted hydropower projects - By Michael Phillis, Associated Press
Federal regulators have granted Native American tribes more power to block hydropower projects on their land after a flurry of applications were filed to expand renewable energy in the water-scarce U.S. Southwest.
Previously, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission granted developers approval to move ahead with planning even if tribes objected. That practice came to an end last week. Now, a new commission policy allows tribes to quickly veto proposals, forcing businesses to cooperate if they want the federal government to grant them exclusive rights to their hydropower projects.
"This is the acknowledgement and respect of tribal sovereignty, which is critical," said George Hardeen, spokesperson for the Navajo Nation's president's office.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recently rejected seven proposals for projects on the Navajo Nation, which stretches 27,000 square miles (69,000 square kilometers) across Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. When it issued those rejections, the commission also announced the policy change, handing tribes the same power as federal agencies to block projects.
"It applies anywhere that a hydropower project might be proposed on tribal lands throughout the United States," said Aaron Paul, an attorney with Grand Canyon Trust, a conservation group.
The Hopi Tribe, which is completely surrounded by Navajo, urged the commission to cement the policy announcement in a formal rule, worrying a different administration would be less favorable to tribes and change the policy.
The hydropower projects are essentially big batteries that generate energy when demand is high and there aren't a lot of other renewable sources like solar and wind available. Hydropower can be turned on when it is needed and works by releasing water from an upper reservoir to a lower one.
At a later point when the electric grid has excess power, water is pumped in a loop back up to the higher reservoir, recharging the battery.
Developers have expressed new interest in building these pumped hydropower projects as coal-fired plants shut down in the Southwest. The canyons, towering mesas and dramatic river valleys in the area are ideal terrain because the projects require moving water between different elevations.
Environmental groups and some members of the Navajo Nation argue the projects require enormous amounts of water — particularly in a part of the country that already doesn't have enough. Roughly one-third of the 175,000 people on the Navajo Nation don't have running water at home.
People are sensitive to how scarce water is, and "they would more likely say 'no' to these kinds of projects," Hardeen said.
Some of the proposals that were rejected came from Nature and People First. For example, the company told federal regulators it wanted to build the Black Mesa East project on the Navajo reservation in Arizona that would have two upper reservoirs with a combined capacity of 100,000 acre-feet and a single, lower reservoir with the same total storage capacity. An acre-foot of water serves two or three homes annually.
The project was proposed near a home site lease that Jheremy Young's family has held for generations. He's happy the commission blocked it. The area around the mesa is rugged, quiet and vast, and water has to be hauled in.
"That's where my dad came from, that's where his father came from," Young said. "The sentimental value of the land — the story, the history — were the biggest concern."
The Navajo Nation told federal regulators the company hadn't consulted with the correct tribal authorities or addressed key concerns about water use and harm to golden eagle and other species' habitats. Hardeen said now, developers will first need to go through the Navajo Nation Division of Natural Resources.
Denis Payre, president and CEO of Nature and People First, said the commission's decision was "undeniably disheartening." The company secured support from local Navajo communities and talked with Navajo government officials for a project he said would create jobs.
"Developing pumped storage projects is inherently challenging; this additional obstacle threatens to halt our collective efforts," Payre said.
The company submitted a proposal for a much larger project than it intends to construct, giving it flexibility to build a smaller project on the piece of land it finds is best after study and tribal consultation.
That approach and using that amount of water engenders opposition, according to the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group.
"If you are going to propose a small project, actually propose a small project," said Taylor McKinnon, the center's Southwest director.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission also rejected proposals from Rye Development, which said it values tribal consultation and will continue to study opportunities on tribal land.
Malcolm Woolf, president and CEO of the industry group National Hydropower Association, said he supported tribes' right to stop unwanted projects. But he said the new policy could halt planning too soon.
The commission denied preliminary permits for the seven projects, which only recognize a business is first in line to develop a project and allows further studies. Developers have to consult with tribes before they can be granted a license and start building.
Companies don't want to navigate a complicated permitting process and spend years working with a tribe only for another business to swoop in and win rights to the project at the last minute, Woolf said.
One company quickly caught up in the new policy is Pumped Hydro Storage, which wants a preliminary permit for a project near the Little Colorado River on Navajo Nation land in Arizona. In light of its new policy, the commission asked for more input from those it potentially impacts before they decide what to do.
The company's manager, Steve Irwin, said pumped storage is important but hard to build on the Navajo Nation's land.
"There's no clear pathway to doing business on the reservation," Irwin said. "It's almost like you have to have 100% unanimous consensus. It's not majority, it's got to be 100%, and it's like, you are never going to get 100%."