New Mexico regulators are set to consider a petition filed by a coalition that is pushing for a voluntary program aimed at curbing carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
The Public Regulation Commission is meeting Thursday in Santa Fe.
Western Resource Advocates filed the petition on behalf of 33 environmental groups.
WRA chief counsel Steve Michel says the proposal would allow utilities to voluntarily opt to reduce carbon emissions from their generating stations by 3 percent a year starting in 2014.
Utilities would be able to recover costs associated with compliance.
Michel says the idea was to come up with a program that offers a moderate path to emissions reductions but is still aggressive enough to address climate change.
He acknowledges that utilities felt threatened by previous efforts to control greenhouse gas emissions in New Mexico.
