KOB 4 News (Albuquerque, NM) reports that city leaders with Rio Rancho, New Mexico, have cut the ribbon on an $850 million solar farm project known as the Atrisco Solar Facility, located near Albuquerque’s Double Eagle II Airport.
The article concludes by stating that “[r]evenue from the solar facility will go toward Rio Rancho Public Schools.” However, the article does not indicate how a privately-owned facility with power transmission operations performed by PNM will provide cash to Rio Rancho Public Schools.
The KOB 4 News article may be read HERE.
According to GrindInfo, the Atrisco Solar Facility (d/b/a Atrisco Solar, LLC) is 100% owned by Clenera, LLC, 999 West Main Street, Suite 800, Boise, Idaho, and is ranked No. 8 out of 84 solar farms in New Mexico in terms of total annual net electricity generation, having generated 39.3 GWh during the period of July to October 2024.
The website further indicates that the plant is a “non-regulated” entity, that its balancing authority is PNM, and that the Rio Rancho plant is the company’s only solar facility operating in the United States.
The GrindInfo reports may be read HERE and HERE.
The Sandoval Signpost published an article in May 2024, reporting that Clenera, a privately held renewable energy company based in Boise, Idaho, was developing the Atrisco Solar and Quail Ranch Solar projects located north of Albuquerque’s Double Eagle II Airport.
The combined projects were expected to supply 400 megawatts of clean energy to approximately 100,000 households in the metropolitan area, with Clenera planning to sell the generated power to the Public Service Company of New Mexico (“PNM”).
The Atrisco Solar projects span 1,800 acres and comprise roughly 670,000 solar panels meeting international regulations and certifications, with each panel measuring seven (7) feet by four (4) feet and weighing 73 pounds.
The Sandoval Signpost article may be read in full HERE.
My brothers and sisters, it is encouraging that a renewable energy power plant sufficient to supply electricity to more than 100K homes has been brought into operation!
As a retired environmental enforcement manager for the State of New Mexico Environment Department’s Solid Waste Bureau, this writer noted GrindInfo’s assertion that the facility was “non-regulated” and that the KOB 4 News article made no mention of any state or federal permitting for the facility and its operations.
As stated within The Sandoval Signpost’s article, the facility is “meeting international regulations and certifications.” What does this mean relative to operation of the Atrisco Solar Facility?
This brings to mind several waste management issues. What is the projected lifespan of the solar panels and storage batteries? What arrangements, contractually and through financial assurance arrangements, have been implemented to assure that the facility and all of its on-site equipment will be properly removed for reuse, recycling or disposal in the event that the owner/operator goes out of business? Have arrangements been made to assure a proper disposal site for the solar panels, batteries and any contaminated soils that might occur? Does New Mexico even have recycling and/or disposal facilities capable of handling the plant’s solar panels and used batteries to prevent abandonment or excessive disposal costs?
It has been my experience over the decades, whether it involves tire recycling, waste-to-energy, solar energy projects, etc., that the costs and regulatory hurdles can be daunting, with abandonment of wastes being a major concern.
Remember the former STP Tire Recycling Facility in Socorro, New Mexico? It was in continual non-compliance with New Mexico Environment Department permit requirements, including financial assurance obligations, and sure enough, when it caught fire in June of 2000, federal and state tax payers had to fund a multi-year project to extinguish underground fires, perform hazardous waste testing, install ground water monitoring wells and place an engineered cover upon the site, as removal and disposal of the burn debris was deemed too expensive and laborious.
I’m not suggesting this is the fate of the Atrisco Solar Facility, but I am suggesting that long term financial and environmental protection for New Mexico tax payers and the City of Rio Rancho is critical and represents WISDOM. I pray that these considerations have been addressed sufficiently.
The Bible reminds us to seek the wisdom of God in our lives, to avoid leaning on our own own understanding (i.e., the wisdom of the world), and to make decisions that benefit our neighbors and are not self-seeking or careless:
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV)
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, [a]nd lean not on your own understanding; [i]n all your ways acknowledge Him, [a]nd He shall direct your paths.”
Isaiah 55:8-9 (NKJV)
“‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, [n]or are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, [s]o are My ways higher than your ways, [a]nd My thoughts than your thoughts.’”
1 Corinthians 3:19 (NKJV)
“For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, ‘He catches the wise in their own craftiness…’”.
1 Corinthians 10:24 (Amplified Bible, Classic Edition)
“Let no one then seek his own good and advantage and profit, but [rather] each one of the other [let him seek the welfare of his neighbor].”