please read if you are concerned about PNM and its lobbyists like Ray Sandoval having too much influence on our energy future.. PNM Lobbying Hard for Energy Resolution December 19, 2014 at 10:35am Bushee and Trujillos Energy Resolution is PNMs Hand-Picked Choice Last night I attended an email-invite event hosted by PNM at Furrys Buick GMC. About 15 people attended not counting Furry employees, PNM employees, and city councilors. The event was framed as a roundtable discussion to go over many of the negative narratives hovering over PNM: Dependence on Coal, rate hikes, solar panel fees, etc. PNM handed out cute reusable shopping bags that embarrassingly stated Pretty Neat, Man as the slogan. There was a big sun on the bag. It was adorable. The roundtable discussion was far from it. The event was a power-point presentation conducted by Ray Sandoval who is PNMs top lobbyist. The power-point presentation attempted to make PNM look like a do-no-harm company that is invested in community and a leader in renewable energy. It was solid propaganda. A+ pitch. A masterful PR stunt. But roundtable discussion it was not. What was actually behind it all was something completely shocking to me. Presenting PNM as an angelic company was just Sandovals setup. PNMs real mission last night quickly revealed itself when the conversation turned to our local government. It became clear that this entire event was PNMs lobbying effort for Councilor Bushee and Councilor Trujillos recently announced energy resolution. Let me break here for a recap of what is going on politically. As we all know, Mayor Gonzales defeated Patti Bushee in March to become Mayor. Soon after, Mayor Gonzales put together a 15-member Climate Action Task Force to discuss various ways the city could explore combating climate change in our own city. This group grew to 50 members through a series of working groups. PNMs Amy Miller was one of the 15 members of Climate Action Task Force. Since then we have had 3 movements on the energy legislation front: In November, a Climate Action Summit was held where much of the task forces issues were discussed with the public. But the largest bit of news came from Councilor Ives who announced that he would be working on an ordinance to explore Santa Fe owning its own power utility. This move came after PNM was unwilling to work with the city on a community solar effort. The exploration of owning a power utility is the only leverage the city has against PNMs monopoly. Soon after, Councilor Maestas introduced a resolution asking for the city to research what steps would need to be taken to own the utility and what it may cost. This reasonable resolution was cost-neutral. Now, a third piece of legislation was introduced last week, this time by Councilor Bushee and Trujillo. This resolution is the one that I will be focusing on primarily, and this is the resolution that PNM is fighting REALLY HARD to get passed. This resolution seeks to create a 3-member team called the Energy Collaboration Team who will work with PNM and NMGas to produce an energy plan for the city. The plan will be built around a set of non-binding and soft, ambiguous intentions like Advancing equity in infrastructure and environmental benefits and Providing low income assistance. The 3-members that will be steering this process are: Douglas Howe, former PRC CommissionerMarcos Martinez, Assistant City AttorneySteve Michel, Energy & Environmental Attorney The event last night quickly became all about lobbying for this third resolution. PNM started by completely lying about Councilor Maestas resolution, stating that it would cost $800,000. This was all spin. Fabrication. Lies. Councilor Maestas was there to clarify, and he was met with aggressive defense from Sandoval. The focus then turned towards championing the Bushee/Trujillo resolution. And it is no surprise why. It is this resolution that clearly gives PNM and NMGas direct access to the process of drafting our citys energy plan, and allows for PNM to negotiate their own contract with the city. It is clearly laid out in the resolution: NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE CITY OF SANTA FE that staff is directed to create a City of Santa Fe Climate Protection Action Plan (“CPAP”) and City of Santa Fe Renewable Energy Vision (“REV”) that shall be presented for consideration by the Governing Body within sixty (60) days of adoption of this resolution. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that that the Governing Body hereby establishes the Energy Collaboration Team (“City Team”). Section 1. PURPOSE: The purpose of the City Team is to work with PNM and NMGCO to craft memorandums of understanding that align with the CPAP and REV and recommend amendments and/or new franchise agreements with PNM and NMGCO. Ultimately, the City Team shall work with PNM and NMGCO on memorandums of understandings that align with the CPAP and REV and recommend amendments and/or new franchise agreements with PNM and NMGCO. Lets take a closer look at this. First, this resolution clearly states that our energy priorities will be compiled by city staff and the aforementioned THREE MEMBER TEAM. All the rhetoric and spin you will hear about this resolution is that it is opening the process up to community involvement but the resolution clearly contradicts that. A 3-member team consisting of two attorneys and a former PRC commissioner is not the community. And in fact, the 50-member Climate Action Task Force that The Mayor has already compiled is much more of a community process. Secondly, the resolution goes on to clearly include PNM and NMGas in the drafting process before an energy plan is presented to City Council. Last night, we were all lied to when PNM said that they were not going to be part of this process. False. This resolution clearly states that they are part of the process, and that they are working with this 3-member team. And guess who from PNM is pinpointed as being part of this process... Ray Sandoval, the lobbyist. It is also important to note in this section that the term Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is used to lay out the working parameters. The thing about MOUs is that they are non-binding. They are nothing more than friendly suggestions. So we may come up with an MOU that asks for community solar, or electric car charging stations, but PNM has zero reason to follow through. And if you do a little research, you will find PNM using the MOU tactic many times before. Thirdly, and maybe most shocking here, is the inclusion of new franchise agreements. This language is basically saying that PNM and NMGas will have the ability to negotiate for their own contract. They will be the advisers to the city when drafting the future financial agreements the city has with them. This is insane. It is clear. The resolution is not about community involvement. The only language about community involvement is buried in section 4 under Transparency where it reads: Section 4. TRANSPARENCY. There shall be opportunities for the public, including advocates, advisors, and representatives from critical communities within the City, such as business,neighborhoods, environmental justice, technical, and City staff, to provide information and materials to the Teams at public meetings. At such meetings, the Teams will provide information related to the ongoing work of the Teams to recommend amendments and/or new franchise agreements with PNM and NMGCO. The language here is soft, and it does not clearly layout a process for community input that has any actual teeth. The writing is on the wall here. This resolution is meant to give PNM and NMGas a tight grip on how we as a city move forward on energy. It is meant to bypass the Climate Action Task Force. It is meant to derail the leadership that has already been laid out by Mayor Gonzales who, by the way, was elected on a platform of community solar and energy independence. This resolution is not about the community, but instead about a three-member team and the two energy monopolies. This resolution, in its current form, clearly shows where Councilor Bushee and Councilor Trujillos alliances lie. And this resolution will expose any other councilor that supports it. I am all for community involvement. I am all for further researching public utility before we dive in head first. I am all for creating a more focused process to achieve our energy goals as a city. But in order for this resolution to work, PNM and NMGas must be removed from the process. The Energy Collaboration Team must be drastically expanded. The Climate Action Task Force must be folded in. And the community involvement process must be better laid out and carry more teeth. It is imperative that we watch the progress of this closely. As of now, it is clear who this resolution is intended for. Write to all the councilors and let them know that you do not approve of this resolution. Tell them that you do not want PNM or NMGas to be part of the development of our energy plan. Tell them that you want to see councilors working together with already existing processes and leadership. Tell them why you voted for Mayor Gonzales to begin with. Let them know that you are watching the progress of this resolution and will hold them accountable if we hand our energy plan over to these monopolies. Please feel free to share this note with others. - Vince Kadlubek and Janiece Johnson To read the entire resolution, go here: santafenm.gov/document_center/document/2626 Please write to your councilors: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 17:50:23 +0000
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