Resources
Resources specifically for Tribes and Indigenous people seeking information about community solar.
The Community Solar Act (Senate Bill 84) created a state-enabled community solar program in New Mexico. Senator Liz Stefanics (D-39), Senator Linda Lopez (D-11), Representative Andrea Romero (D-46), and Representative Roybal Caballero (D-13) were lead sponsors of the Act. Other sponsors included Senator Bobby Gonzales (D-6), Senator Sedillo Lopez (D-16), Senator Benny Shendo (D-22), Senator Steinborn (D-36), Senator Tallman (D-18), and Senator Wirth (D-25).
The passage of the Community Solar Act in the 2021 Legislative Session makes New Mexico the 21st state to have a community solar program enabled through state legislation. Senate Bill 84 is the first community solar bill in the country to specifically recognize Tribes’ inherent sovereign authority and to include provisions for community solar development on Tribal Nations.
Prior to the passage of the Community Solar Act, New Mexicans were limited to options of rooftop solar or local ground-mounted solar, which can only be tied to one electric meter. These on-site solar systems require homeownership and are only feasible on suitable rooftops under the right physical conditions. Many lower-income households are excluded from the rooftop solar market because they cannot afford the upfront installation cost of an on-site solar system and may not qualify for loans or third-party financing options.
Community solar customers include:
- Renters that are prohibited from installing solar panels on the property
- Households that cannot finance on-site residential solar power systems
- Households that do not meet roofing requirements
- Households who have a high energy burden and pay disproportionately high electricity bills based on income
- Multi-tenant homes and offices
- Tribal community members with homes in traditional areas where solar panels may not be visually or structurally appropriate
Most community solar subscribers save 10-15% on their electricity bills. Since energy costs are disproportionately higher for low-income or fixed-income households, these reductions can be critical to reducing the energy burden. Tribal members, both on and off-reservation, have opportunities to take advantage of the economic benefits of community solar.
Community solar refers to communal offsite solar arrays shared by multiple electric meters. In subscription models, detailed here, ratepayers subscribe to this array and receive credits on their electricity bill in proportion to the size of their subscription.
Community solar legislation furthers opportunities for Tribal Nations of New Mexico to serve as leaders in renewable energy development and pursue sustainable opportunities that benefit Tribes and community members.
Community solar development can provide Tribal Nations the following benefits:
- Offset electrical costs for tribal buildings and homes
- Become a source of economic development
- Provide new job skills for community members in the area for solar installation, maintenance, and repair
- Energy self-sufficiency and reliability
- Grid resiliency
- Energy sovereignty and independence
- Diversity of energy supply
- Reduce and mitigate climate change risk to preserve the climate and sustain cultural practices
Community solar facilities can be situated near where electricity is used, which means less energy is lost from energy transmission in the centralized generation system. The strategic location of community solar facilities can reduce interconnection costs or even benefit the distribution grid by offering grid reliability and resilience. Consultation with the Tribe’s electric service utility will help determine the optimal location to reduce interconnection costs and other technical considerations that may impact the cost of development or obtained benefits.
Tribal Nations can also utilize alternative financial models beyond community solar subscriptions based upon the needs of the community. This could include investing with a financial partner to build a facility and receive compensation for the solar energy generated by a power-purchase agreement from the electric service utility or through virtual net metering, where a tribe directly receives and manages benefits to tribal members.
New Mexico Community Solar Act (Senate Bill 84)
Key provisions of Senate Bill 84
Features of New Mexico’s community solar program:
- 200 MW Statewide capacity cap until November 1, 2024, after which the Public Regulation Commission (PRC) will review the capacity cap and how to revise the program
- 5 MW Facility cap
- All facilities located in the same service utility as the qualifying utility
- Minimum of 10 subscribers per facility
- 40% Anchor tenant carve-out per facility
- Anchor tenants are large customers that own or subscribe to a significant portion of the community solar facility to increase revenue certainty and the ability to finance projects. For tribes, anchor tenants can include casinos, tribal administrative facilities, schools, and community centers, or other consumers that have higher energy demand.
- 30% Low-income carve-out per facility
- Opt-in for rural electric cooperatives
- Public Regulation Commission rulemaking process by April 1, 2022, and comprehensive review after November 1, 2024
- Includes provisions for ”Native Community Solar Projects” to enable tribal community solar development
Provisions for “Native Community Solar Projects” to Enable Tribal Community Solar Development
Senate Bill 84 maintains key provisions for “Native Community Solar Projects” to enable the pathway towards tribal energy sovereignty.
A “Native Community Solar Project” (as defined in Senate Bill 84) is a community solar facility that is sited in New Mexico on the land of an Indian nation, tribe, or pueblo and that is owned or operated by a subscriber organization that is an Indian nation, tribe or pueblo, or a tribal entity or in partnership with a third-party entity.
“Native Community Solar Projects” remain exempt from:
- Facility, subscriber, and subscription size limitations
This means “Native Community Solar Projects” can be larger than 5MW without constraint on the number of subscribers or size of subscriptions
- Anchor tenant limitations
This means “Native Community Solar Projects” are not limited by the 40% anchor tenant-carve out per facility and can serve any variety of commercial or residential customers upon their discretion
- Annual capacity cap
This means “Native Community Solar Projects” are not included in the 200MW cap on the program
- Subscription-based models
This means Tribes and tribal entities are not limited by subscription-based models and can use other financial models, such as virtual and aggregate net-metering
- Transferring Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) to the utilities
This means Tribes and tribal entities are able to keep the RECs generated from their community solar facilities
This language reflects tribal sovereign jurisdiction over their lands, including the use of their lands for energy projects and infrastructure. Tribal sovereign authority means that Tribes and Pueblos are not subject to state law on tribal lands, and state legislative, regulatory, taxation, and judicial authorities, and others, do not extend to Tribes and Pueblos, or tribal members, or the activities of others on tribal land. Language within the definition section also ensures that tribal entities and sub-governance are guaranteed the same provisions.
Definitions included in the Community Solar Act to support tribal community solar development:
“Indian nation, tribe or pueblo” means a federally recognized Indian nation, tribe, or pueblo located wholly or partially in New Mexico.
“Low-income service organization” means an organization that provides services, assistance, or housing to low-income customers and may include a local or central tribal government, a chapter house, or a tribally-designated housing entity.
“Native Community Solar Project” means a community solar facility that is sited in New Mexico on the land of an Indian nation, tribe, or pueblo and that is owned or operated by a subscriber organization that is an Indian nation, tribe or pueblo, or a tribal entity or in partnership with a third-party entity.
“Subscriber” means a retail customer of a qualifying utility that owns a subscription to a community solar facility and that is by rate class a residential customer or a small commercial retail customer or, regardless of rate class, is a nonprofit organization, a religious organization, and Indian nation, tribe or pueblo or tribal entity, a municipality or a county in the state, a charter, private or public school as defined in Section 22-1-2 NMSA 1978, a community college as defined in Section 21-13-2 NMSA 1978 or a public housing authority.
“Subscriber organization” means an entity that owns or operates a community solar facility and may include a qualifying utility, a municipality, a county, a for-profit or nonprofit entity or organization, an Indian nation, tribe or pueblo, a local tribal governance structure, or other tribal entity authorized to conduct business in New Mexico.
“Tribal entity” means an enterprise, a nonprofit entity or organization, or a political subdivision formed under the inherent sovereignty of an Indian nation, tribe, or pueblo.
Implementation of the Community Solar Act Within Tribal Nations
Each Tribal Nation has different circumstances and legal considerations that could impact the development of a community solar project. Considerations vary based upon tribal, state, and federal laws, and differences across electric utilities. While Tribes and Pueblos have the sovereign authority to develop community solar projects without the state’s approval, they must still work with their incumbent utilities – whether IOUs or rural electric cooperatives – to actually implement these projects. For Tribes within the electric service territory of rural electric cooperatives, this involves working directly with the rural electric cooperatives, who are not mandated to participate in the program but can opt-in on a per-project or service territory-wide basis.
The opt-in participation is in respect to the contractual and technical constraints of the co-ops and each tribe’s relationship with their utility service provider in relation to the right of way agreements. Rural electric cooperatives’ different contractual relationships with their electric wholesale provider could determine their ability to procure distributed solar generation. For example, cooperatives who are members of Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Inc. were unable to generate more than 5% of their energy load due to contractual limitations on the self-generation of renewable energy. That limitation was revised in Tri-State’s Responsible Energy Plan released in January of 2020 to increase member flexibility to self-generate more renewable energy.
| Investor-Owned Utilities | ||
| Utility | Tribes in Utility Service Territory | Participation in Community Solar |
| PNM | Cochiti Pueblo Isleta Pueblo Jicarilla Apache Nation Kewa Pueblo (Santo Domingo) Laguna Pueblo San Felipe Pueblo Sandia Pueblo Santa Ana Pueblo Tesuque Pueblo |
Mandatory Participation as part of Annual Capacity Cap – “Native Community Solar Projects” are not included in the annual capacity cap. |
| Rural Electric Cooperatives | ||
| Utility | Tribes in Utility Service Territory | Participation in Community Solar |
|
Continental Divide Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Tri-State Member) |
Acoma Pueblo Laguna Pueblo Navajo Nation Zuni |
Opt-in Participation on a Per-Project or Service-Territory Wide Basis–Projects completed in rural electric cooperative service territory and “Native Community Solar Projects” are not included in the annual capacity cap. |
|
Jemez Mountains Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Tri-State Member) |
Jemez Pueblo Jicarilla Apache Nation Nambe Pueblo Navajo Nation Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo Pojoaque Pueblo San Ildefonso Pueblo Santa Clara Pueblo Zia Pueblo |
Opt-in Participation on a Per-Project or Service-Territory Wide Basis–Projects completed in rural electric cooperative service territory and “Native Community Solar Projects” are not included in the annual capacity cap. |
| Kit Carson Electric Cooperative, Inc. | Navajo Nation Picuris Pueblo Taos Pueblo |
Opt-in Participation on a Per-Project or Service-Territory Wide Basis–Projects completed in rural electric cooperative service territory and “Native Community Solar Projects” are not included in the annual capacity cap. |
| Navajo Tribal Utility Authority | Navajo Nation | Not included as part of the Community Solar Act since they are outside of state jurisdiction. |
|
Northern Rio Arriba Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Tri-State Member) |
Jicarilla Apache Nation Navajo Nation |
Opt-in Participation on a Per-Project or Service-Territory Wide Basis–Projects completed in rural electric cooperative service territory and “Native Community Solar Projects” are not included in the annual capacity cap. |
|
Otero County Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Tri-State Member) |
Mescalero Apache Nation | Opt-in Participation on a Per-Project or Service-Territory Wide Basis–Projects completed in rural electric cooperative service territory and “Native Community Solar Projects” are not included in the annual capacity cap. |
Public Regulation Commission Rules
With the passage of Senate Bill 84 in New Mexico’s legislature, the Public Regulation Commission made rules to enforce provisions of the Community Solar Act.
The rules include:
Scope: Applies to investor-owned electric utilities and rural electric distribution cooperatives opting into the program, as well as subscriber organizations and subscribers defined in the Community Solar Act.
Objectives: Implement the Community Solar Act and facilitate the creation, financing, and accessibility of community solar facilities.
Utility Filings: Utilities must file all necessary tariffs, agreements, and forms for the community solar program with the commission within 60 days of the effective date of the rule.
Community Solar Facility Requirements:
- Capacity rating of five megawatts alternating current or less.
Location in the service territory of the qualifying utility and interconnected to its electric distribution system.
Minimum of ten subscribers.
Option for co-location with other energy resources, but not with other community solar facilities.
Limit of forty percent generating capacity for a single subscriber.
At least forty percent of total generating capacity available in subscriptions of 25 kilowatts or less.
Low-Income Subscriber Reservation: Reserve at least thirty percent of electricity produced from each community solar facility for low-income subscribers and service organizations, with guidelines issued by the commission.
Statewide Capacity Program Caps:
- Provisions for reallocating unused capacity and periodic reviews.
- Initial caps allocated among qualifying utilities:
- Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM): 125 MW
- Southwestern Public Service Company (SPS): 45 MW
- El Paso Electric Company (EPE): 30 MW
- Provisions for reallocating unused capacity and periodic reviews.
Selection Process for Community Solar Facilities: Competitive solicitation process based on eligibility criteria and selection factors.
Interconnection and Administrative Costs: Mechanisms for sharing interconnection costs among subscribers and ratepayers, with provisions for recovering administrative costs.
Subscriber Protections: Requirements for disclosure forms, subscriber agreements, and complaint resolution procedures to ensure transparency and consumer protection.
Production Data and Bill Credit Rate: Specifications for measuring production, reporting data to subscribers, and calculating bill credit rates.
Unsubscribed Energy: Procedures for handling unsubscribed energy, including rolling forward credits and purchasing excess energy.
Reporting Requirements: Utilities and subscriber organizations must provide relevant information to the commission for reporting to the legislature.