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PNM Files Plan For Replacing Lost Coal-Fired Power

San Juan Citizens Alliance/EcoFlight
/
with permission

New Mexico's largest electric utility has a plan for replacing power that will be lost with the proposed shuttering of two units at a coal-fired power plant in northwestern New Mexico that has long been a target for environmentalists.

PNM filed its plan with state regulators late Friday.

While the utility isn't requesting a change in rates now, it's seeking permission to recover costs that will be associated with closing part of the San Juan Generating Station.

PNM says its plan will cost less and result in greater environmental benefits than a plan floated by federal regulators.

Critics, including the environmental group New Energy Economy, argue that PNM's effort to recover its investment in the aging plant will ultimately end up costing customers through higher rates.

They plan to fight PNM's proposal.