STUDY PUBLICLY OWNED UTILITY

HM041

HOUSE MEMORIAL 41

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

INTRODUCED BY

Patricia Roybal Caballero and Harold Pope

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO BUREAU OF BUSINESS AND
ECONOMIC RESEARCH TO CONDUCT AND OVERSEE A STUDY TO DETERMINE
THE GENERAL FEASIBILITY OF CREATING A PUBLICLY OWNED ELECTRIC
UTILITY.

WHEREAS, reliable and resilient energy infrastructure is
essential to support the health, safety and economic security
and meet the needs of residents across New Mexico; and

WHEREAS, publicly owned electric utilities offer a state
the opportunity to safeguard critical energy infrastructure,
ensuring reliable service delivery that is aligned with the
public interest; and

WHEREAS, residential customers served by publicly owned
electric utilities pay the lowest electricity bills on average
in thirty-five states, reflecting the not-for-profit,
community-owned structure of the publicly owned electric
utility model; and

WHEREAS, many publicly owned electric utilities use power
purchase agreements to supplement their owned generation
resources, with more than twenty-three thousand megawatts of
renewable energy being contracted through power purchase
agreements in 2023; and

WHEREAS, despite only ten percent of electricity in the
United States coming from publicly owned electric utilities,
approximately forty percent of that electricity is generated
from non-carbon emitting sources; and

WHEREAS, even without accounting for purchased power,
publicly owned electric utilities rely on a higher proportion
of clean energy generation than the private electric industry
overall; and

WHEREAS, publicly owned electric utilities generate more
than sixty billion dollars ($60,000,000,000) in annual revenue
and invest more than two billion dollars ($2,000,000,000)
annually directly back into their communities; and

WHEREAS, publicly owned electric utilities invest this
revenue back into their communities in myriad ways, including
through payments in lieu of taxes, creating local jobs with
great benefits, offering free or reduced-cost electric services
and supporting local causes and charities; and

WHEREAS, other states have successfully used the publicly
owned electric utility model to provide affordable and reliable
energy to customers, including:

A. Nebraska, which has operated a fully electric
publicly owned power utility since 1949 that contributes more
than thirty million dollars ($30,000,000) per year in payments
in lieu of taxes that support various state-provided services;

B. New York, which operates the largest state-
owned public power utility that has been successfully serving
residents since 1931;

C. Tennessee, which operates a publicly owned
electric utility, created in 1933 as part of the New Deal
initiatives, that serves most of Tennessee along with parts of
six surrounding states; and

D. a handful of other states that have various
county- and city-owned public power utilities, some of which
date back to the late 1800s;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the university
of New Mexico bureau of business and economic research be
requested to study the general feasibility of acquiring and
operating an electric utility for the purpose of creating a
publicly owned electric utility in New Mexico; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the university of New Mexico
bureau of business and economic research be requested to
consult with the public regulation commission, the New Mexico
renewable energy transmission authority and the energy,
minerals and natural resources department when conducting the
study; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the university of New Mexico
bureau of business and economic research be requested to
explore the necessary authority needed by the state to acquire
and operate an electric utility; identify applicable federal,
state and local laws; consider franchise rights, potential
service area issues, condemnation and eminent domain risks; and
investigate labor law, union and labor transition
considerations; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the university of New Mexico
bureau of business and economic research be requested to create
an inventory of key public and private entities, data sources
and repositories; if possible, collect high-level data
appropriate for understanding assets; and assess the strengths
and limitations of various valuation methods that may be used
to evaluate a publicly owned electric utility; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the university of New Mexico
bureau of business and economic research be requested to
investigate the trends toward or away from private to public
ownership of electric utilities, and vice-versa, across the
country, including attempting to understand key reasons for the
trends, and benefits and drawbacks of public and private
ownership of electric utilities; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the university of New Mexico
bureau of business and economic research be requested to assess
the potential operational and management needs that a
transition to a publicly owned electric utility model might be
required to meet, including exploring potential transition
plans from a current owner to a state-owned utility,
identifying required expertise necessary to make that
transition successful and any related customer service,
information technology and emergency response needs that must
be addressed; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the university of New Mexico
bureau of business and economic research be requested to
publish a report containing its determinations as to the
general feasibility of a publicly owned electric utility model
for New Mexico and any alternatives to an outright purchase of
an electric utility that might still achieve the same
interests, along with any additional findings or
recommendations that the bureau identifies as useful to
policymaking around the concept of publicly owned electric
utilities; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the university of New Mexico
bureau of business and economic research be requested to
present its findings and recommendations to the relevant
interim legislative committee on or before June 30, 2027; and

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

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