The New Mexico Supreme Court has upheld state regulators' decision to block the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) from divesting its stake in the Four Corners coal-fired power plant.
The court ruled on 6 July that the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission's decision in December 2021 to reject PNM's request was consistent with the state's Energy Transition Act. The court also agreed with the commission's determination that PNM had not satisfied regulatory requirements for abandoning the power plant.
The court decision may delay PNM's exit from coal generation until 2031, which is when the plant is scheduled to close, the company said on Thursday.
PNM had wanted to sell its 13pc stake in the 1,540MW Four Corners plant in San Juan, New Mexico, to the Navajo Transitional Energy Company (NTEC) at the end of next year. It also had sought permission from the commission to issue energy transition bonds to cover expected costs of divesting its stake in the plant.
But the commission ruled that PNM's proposal lacked "adequate potential" replacement resources for the 200MW of power the utility owns and would lose by abandoning Four Corners. PNM argued that it had presented "substantial evidence" of being able to have sufficient resources, but the commission and the state supreme court disagreed.
The court did, however, uphold the option the commission offered PNM to file a new application with proposed resource replacements for the capacity it gets from Four Corners. PNM said it is reviewing the court's decision and will "determine next steps."
PNM did not return a request for additional comment. NTEC also did not respond.
