RENEWABLE ENERGY FACILITIES DECOMMISSION COST

HM037

HOUSE MEMORIAL 37

57
th legislature
- STATE OF NEW MEXICO -
second session
, 2026

INTRODUCED BY

Luis M. Terrazas and Gabriel Ramos and Mark B. Murphy

and Rebecca Dow and Gail Armstrong

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE ENERGY, MINERALS AND NATURAL RESOURCES
DEPARTMENT TO STUDY COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH DECOMMISSIONING SOLAR
AND WIND ENERGY GENERATION FACILITIES AND TO MAKE
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR REQUIRING FINANCIAL ASSURANCE FROM OWNERS
AND OPERATORS OF SUCH FACILITIES.

WHEREAS, New Mexico has rapidly expanded its reliance on
renewable energy over the past decade, with renewable energy
currently comprising nearly forty-five percent of total in-
state electricity generation; and

WHEREAS, New Mexico ranks seventh in the nation in
electricity generation from wind power, with about thirty-seven
percent of net electricity generation coming from wind in 2024
alone, a sevenfold increase from 2014; and

WHEREAS, solar installation has risen dramatically across
the state since the early 2010s, with over four thousand
megawatts currently installed, a number that is expected to
grow significantly over the next five years; and

WHEREAS, existing statutory requirements for public
utilities will require eighty percent of a utility's energy
portfolio to be made up of renewable energy by 2040,
effectively ensuring continued rapid deployment of solar and
wind energy generation facilities by various organizations; and

WHEREAS, solar and wind energy generation facilities are
vulnerable to various types of deterioration from events such
as erosion, hail, lightning strikes and equipment failure,
which can result in shorter-than-anticipated lifespans, with
some facilities failing a decade earlier than projected; and

WHEREAS, despite having thorough financial assurance
requirements for other types of energy facilities, there are
currently no statutory requirements for the decommissioning of
solar and wind energy generation facilities in New Mexico, a
process that would cover the removal of physical structures and
equipment and ensure that the land is returned to its original
condition once a facility is no longer operating; and

WHEREAS, without such financial assurance requirements,
residents could be forced to foot the bill for decommissioning,
to the tune of anywhere between thirty million dollars
($30,000,000) and one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000)
per one thousand megawatts of deployed capacity; and

WHEREAS, a 2025 report from the national center for energy
analytics gave New Mexico a failing grade for being ill-
equipped to meet a potential nine-hundred-seventy-four-million
dollar ($974,000,000) financial exposure resulting from
anticipated decommissioning costs of current and projected
solar and wind energy generation facilities within the state;
and

WHEREAS, without appropriate measures in place that
require owners and operators of solar and wind energy
generation facilities to safely and efficiently decommission
those facilities at the cessation of operations, the rapid
proliferation of solar and wind energy generation facilities
across New Mexico could result in serious environmental and
economic harm that would otherwise be avoidable through the
implementation of financial assurance requirements;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the energy,
minerals and natural resources department, in consultation with
the New Mexico renewable energy transmission authority and the
public regulation commission, be requested to study the
potential costs of decommissioning current and future solar and
wind energy generation facilities operating in New Mexico and
to provide recommendations on possible financial assurance
requirements for those facilities; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the goals of the study include
evaluating the scale and timing of actual end-of-life solar and
wind energy generation facility retirement; estimating the
likely costs of equipment removal and site restoration on land
used for solar and wind energy generation facilities; assessing
the adequacy of existing financial assurance options to hold
owners and operators of solar and wind energy generation
facilities accountable for decommissioning costs; considering
best practices from other states that have successfully adopted
financial assurance requirements for solar and wind energy
generation facilities; and proposing recommendations for
policies or legislation that would minimize the risks of
environmental harm and financial exposure related to
decommissioning solar and wind energy generation facilities;
and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the energy, minerals and
natural resources department be requested to present its
findings and recommendations to the appropriate interim
legislative committee by November 1, 2026; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
transmitted to the secretary of energy, minerals and natural
resources, the executive director of the New Mexico renewable
energy transmission authority and the chair of the public
regulation commission.

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