Jun 26 - Albuquerque Journal

A state law designed to promote a diverse supply of renewable energy is beginning to bear fruit.

New Mexico's three major utilities are studying bids to buy power derived from the sun or from burning wood or animal waste.

By law, they must derive 5 percent of their electricity from renewable sources, such as solar, wind, biomass or geothermal energy, rising to 10 percent by 2011.

Xcel Energy, El Paso Electric and Public Service Company of New Mexico have met the 5 percent requirement by purchasing wind power. But eventually they must use a mix of renewable sources.

State regulators and lawmakers who helped create the law hoped to encourage solar, biomass and geothermal energy developers to invest in projects in New Mexico.

Xcel is now considering six bids from renewable energy suppliers it received in response to a request for proposals it issued earlier this year, said Xcel spokesman Wes Reeves.

Three were for solar plants, one for biomass, one would use a combination of solar and biomass energy, and one proposes to use waste heat from an existing gas-fueled power plant to generate electricity.

Solar technology uses energy from the sun to produce electricity.

Biomass plants burn organic matter such as forest thinnings or animal waste to produce steam, which drives a generator.

Minneapolis, Minn.-based Xcel, which supplies about 108,000 customers in eastern New Mexico, currently buys power from an 80- megawatt wind farm near Tucumcari and a 120-megawatt wind farm at Elida, between Roswell and Portales.

El Paso Electric received nine renewable energy proposals, four for solar power, three for wind and two for biomass, said El Paso spokeswoman Teres Souza.

El Paso supplies power to about 70,000 customers in southern New Mexico, including the city of Las Cruces.

It is buying wind power from Public Service Company of New Mexico to meet the current renewable requirement.

PNM has been buying wind power from a 204-megawatt wind farm near Fort Sumner since 2003. It is studying bids for biomass and solar power to increase its renewable portfolio.

The utilities say they will evaluate the bids over the summer.

(c) 2006 Albuquerque Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.