New Mexico nonprofit Power the Future is supporting the repeal of the state’s Energy Transition Act (ETA), saying it is a power grab by extremist environmental groups that will kill jobs and raise utility rates for the state’s workers and families.
“It’s time for New Mexicans to come together to repeal the ETA,” Power the Future Western States Director Larry Behrens told the Albuquerque Journal.
Power The Future is a nonprofit energy advocacy group that says its mission is to present the truth about abundant energy sources that have sustained national advancement and prosperity.
New Mexico Gov. Michele Lujan Grisham signed Senate Bill 489 into law last March. The ETA, its sponsors say, is designed to develop renewable energy sources and to provide a pathway for low-carbon footprint away from coal dependency while providing workforce training and transition assistance to affected communities.
“Grisham’s administration worked closely with [New Mexico's electrical utility] PNM and radical environmentalists to write the law,” Behrens told the Journal. “New Mexico’s energy workers and rate payers were left behind while ‘big green’ and PNM were allowed insider access. Of course, it’s those same parties who now want to pretend they’re being transparent by putting forth plans to implement the ETA.”
Behrens accused PNM of admitting in a press release it had “miscalculated” the cost impact to electricity customers in the ETA transition.
“Promised savings evaporate once we have to come to terms with economic reality,” Behrens said. “The supporters of the ETA continue to hide things from public scrutiny.”
Behrens said his organization asked for 300 emails between a sponsor of the ETA and lawmakers at the state legislature, but the request was denied.
“The emails have been deemed confidential and privileged,” Behrens said, adding that thousands of energy jobs in the state are in jeopardy because of the ETA. “[Energy workers] depend on our energy industry for high-paying jobs that allow their families to grow stronger. The billions of dollars they generate support every classroom, every road project and every family in New Mexico. The ETA and their radical supporters want to see that come to an end."
Critics of Power the Future have portrayed the group as an anti-liberal, Republican-backed, pro-oil and coal organization possibly funded by the billionaire Koch family.
Alerts Sign-up