New Mexico has received a huge $156 million-dollar boost from the Biden Administration to put in many low income and disadvantaged communities across the state.
The cash injection comes directly from the Environmental Protection Agency鈥檚 鈥� which distributed nearly $7B in aid to 60 selected applicants to create new or expand existing low-income solar programs.
Here in New Mexico, that cash will go to the state鈥檚 Energy, Minerals, & Natural Resources Department to 鈥渆xpand access to shared solar鈥� beyond the state鈥檚 current .
Michael Barrio is senior principal with , a policy think tank working to bring clean energy across America. He said that it鈥檚 going to be a painstakingly slow process to implement solar in some of these places, but it鈥檚 well-worth the investment.
鈥淩enewable energy is not something that's a phase or a fad,鈥� Barrio said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not something that鈥檚 going away. This is literally the industry of the future, right?鈥�
While some details of how the state will prioritize this group of New Mexicans are unclear, the over $156 million will allow the state to give grants and low-interest loans to both homeowners and renters to provide solar power access in low-income and rural households.
Though, with this large win, Barrio says the state needs to make sure this money goes to the right places 鈥� and urges stakeholders to get together to hash out next steps.
鈥淭his is something that is on everyone's mind, Barrio said. 鈥淚t doesn't make sense financially, fiscally, whatever, economically, to not pay attention to this.鈥�
Current state models show Solar for All will add 21 megawatts of solar energy capacity to the state鈥檚 power grid and 8.1 megawatt hours of storage in cases where there isn鈥檛 enough sunlight to generate power.
Experts estimate that 1 megawatt can power anywhere between 164 to 600 households, depending on a house鈥檚 energy consumption and efficiency.
