New Mexico's Biggest Power Plant Sticks with Coal. Partly. For Now.

When New Mexico utility regulators decided to partially close the state's largest coal-fired power plant in December, they punted the controversial discussion of how long the state should rely on coal.

The San Juan Generating Station provides about a third of the state's power.  During more than two years of caustic debate, the plant became a battleground over the state's long-term energy future.  Coal formed the center of the controversy.

"This is probably the landmark case for New Mexico," Commissioner Karen Montoya of the New Mexico Public Regulatory Commission told InsideClimate News last spring.  "It could determine generation in New Mexico for years to come."  Montoya was part of the majority of commissioners who voted 4-1 for the deal on Dec. 16.

But even with a deal in hand, that future remains far from resolved—and New Mexicans remain divided over how long the state should rely on coal.  After an extraordinarily long review, state regulators essentially punted the major question: whether to shut down the plant for good and bring far more renewables online.  The issue will not be taken up again until 2018.  When New Mexico utility regulators decided to partially close the state's largest coal-fired power plant in December, they punted the controversial discussion of how long the state should rely on coal.

Read  more at New Mexico's Biggest Power Plant Sticks with Coal.  Partly.  For Now.