N.M. Admin. Code § 17.9.572.7

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 21, November 5, 2024

Section 17.9.572.7 - DEFINITIONS

Unless otherwise specified, as used in this rule:

A.Definitions beginning with "A": "average annual levelized cost" means a calculation to produce the present value of the total cost of building and operating a new resource over an assumed lifetime, assuming equal unit costs each year over the life of the resource. Average annual levelized cost is calculated by dividing the present value of the assumed lifetime total cost of a new resource by the present value of the assumed lifetime generation production of that new resource. The equation for calculating average annual levelized cost is as follows:

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where, I_t equals investment expenditures in year t (including financing) in nominal dollars; M_t equals operations and maintenance expenditures in year t in nominal dollars, including but not limited to return, depreciation, property taxes, and income taxes, net of tax credits that are passed on to customers; F_t equals fuel expenditures and variable operations and maintenance in year t in nominal dollars; E_t equals electricity generated in year t including any degradation; r equals a discount rate equal to the utility's after-tax weighted average cost of capital as authorized in the utility's most recent rate case; and n equals the assumed lifetime of the new resource. Fuel expenditures would not be applicable for determining the levelized cost of renewable resources but may be applicable for determining the levelized cost of proposed zero-carbon resources.

B.Definitions beginning with "B": [RESERVED]

C.Definitions beginning with "C": [RESERVED]

D.Definitions beginning with "D": [RESERVED]

E..Definitions beginning with "E": "emissions" means all emissions regulated by state or federal authorities, including but not limited to: all criteria pollutants and hazardous air pollutants, methane, mercury, and carbon dioxide.

F.Definitions beginning with "F": "financial incentive" means money or additional earnings that a public utility is authorized to collect from ratepayers by the commission or capital investment opportunities to encourage certain behaviors or actions that would not otherwise have occurred in order to further the outcomes described in Section 62-16-4 NMSA 1978. The financial incentive, or monetary benefit, motivates certain behaviors or actions.

G.Definitions beginning with "G": "greenhouse gas emissions" means emissions of gases including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, fluorinated gases, or other gases that trap heat in the atmosphere.

H.Definitions beginning with "H": [RESERVED]

I.Definitions beginning with "I": "IRP" means integrated resource plan.

J.Definitions beginning with "J": [RESERVED]

K.Definitions beginning with "K": [RESERVED]

L.Definitions beginning with "L": [RESERVED]

M.Definitions beginning with "M": [RESERVED]

N.Definitions beginning with "N": [RESERVED]

O.Definitions beginning with "O": [RESERVED]

P.Definitions beginning with "P":

(1)"plan year" means the calendar year for which approval is sought;

(2)"plan year total retail energy sales" means retail energy sales in kilowatt-hours projected for the plan year adjusted for projected energy efficiency reductions based on approved energy efficiency and load management programs in effect at the time of the filing, less energy sales to voluntary program participants under Section 62-16-7 NMSA 1978;

(3)"political subdivision of the state" means a division of the state made by proper authorities thereof, acting within their constitutional powers, for purpose of carrying out a portion of those functions of the state which, by long usage and inherent necessities of government, have always been regarded as public;

(4)"procure or procurement" means a competitive process conducted by an investor-owned electric utility for soliciting and evaluating purchased power, facility self-build, or facility build-transfer options as proposals for any new, additional, or amended renewable energy resource, including but not limited to, instructions to bidders, bid specifications, conditions, forms, or other requirements included in a request for proposals, and all methods, practices, and assumptions used by an investor-owned electric utility to model or evaluate such proposals or to negotiate with bidders, in order to generate or purchase any renewable energy resource or to commit to generate or purchase any renewable energy resource, but does not include agreements to purchase energy or capacity from a qualifying facility pursuant to 17.9.570 NMAC;

(5)"public utility" means investor-owned electric utility certified by the commission to provide retail electric service in New Mexico pursuant to the Public Utility Act and does not include rural electric cooperatives or municipalities.

Q.Definitions beginning with "Q.": [RESERVED]

R.Definitions beginning with "R":

(1)"reasonable cost threshold" (RCT) means an average annual levelized cost of $60.00 per megawatt-hour at the point of interconnection of the renewable energy resource with the transmission systems, adjusted for inflation after 2020. The reasonable cost threshold is a customer protection mechanism that limits the customer bill impact resulting from annual Renewable Energy Act plans;

(2)"renewable energy" means electric energy generated by use of renewable energy resources and delivered to a public utility;

(3)"renewable energy certificate" (REC) means a certificate or other record, in a format approved by the commission, that represents all the environmental attributes from one megawatt-hour of electricity generated from renewable energy delivered to a public utility and assigned to its New Mexico customers;

(4)"renewable energy resource" means the following energy resources with or without energy storage:

(a) solar, wind, and geothermal;

(b) hydropower facilities brought in service on or after July 1, 2007;

(c) biomass resources, limited to agriculture of animal waste, small diameter timber not to exceed eight inches, salt cedar, and other phreatophyte or woody vegetation removed from river basins or watersheds in New Mexico, provided that these resources are from facilities certified by the energy, minerals and natural resources department to:

(i) be of appropriate scale to have sustainable feedstock in the near vicinity;

(ii) have zero life cycle carbon emissions; and

(iii) meet scientifically determined restoration, sustainability and soil nutrient principles;

(d) fuel cells that do not use fossil fuels to create electricity; and

(e) landfill gas and anaerobically digested waste biogas.

(5)"renewable portfolio standard" (RPS) means the minimum percentage of retail sales of electricity by a public utility to electric consumers in New Mexico that is required by the Renewable Energy Act to be from renewable energy;

(6)"renewable purchased power agreement" means an agreement that binds an entity generating power from renewable energy resources to provide power at a specified price, for a specified term, and binds the purchaser to that price.

S.Definitions beginning with "S": [RESERVED]

T.Definitions beginning with "T": [RESERVED]

U.Definitions beginning with "U": [RESERVED]

V.Definitions beginning with "V": [RESERVED]

W.Definitions beginning with "W": "WREGIS" means the western renewable energy generation information system.

X.Definitions beginning with "X": [RESERVED]

Y.Definitions beginning with "Y": [RESERVED]

Z.Definitions beginning with "Z":

(1)"zero carbon resource" means an electricity generation resource that emits no carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, or that reduces methane emitted into the atmosphere in an amount equal to no less than one-tenth of the tons of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere, as a result of electricity production;

(2)"zero carbon resource standard" means providing New Mexico public utility customers with electricity generated from one hundred percent zero carbon resources.

N.M. Admin. Code § 17.9.572.7

17.9.572.7 NMAC - Rp, 17.9.572.7 NMAC, 5-31-13; A, 5-15-14, Adopted by New Mexico Register, Volume XXXII, Issue 09, May 4, 2021, eff. 5/4/2021, Adopted by New Mexico Register, Volume XXXIV, Issue 04, February 28, 2023, eff. 2/28/2023