New Mexico Roadmap delivers recommendations to decarbonize residential and small commercial buildings by 2050
– A collection of 26 governmental bodies, utilities, companies, and other organizations released the New Mexico Building Decarbonization Roadmap. This Roadmap lays out recommendations to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions and pollution from New Mexico’s residential and small commercial buildings by 2050. By following these recommendations, New Mexico can create affordable, comfortable, healthy, efficient, and resilient homes for all its residents while prioritizing low-income, disadvantaged, and Tribal communities.
“The collective effort it took to create the Building Decarbonization Roadmap is a great example of what we can achieve when we work together,” said Mayor Tim Keller. “By identifying drivers of pollution and implementing practical solutions to reduce greenhouse gas we can build a cleaner and more resilient Albuquerque for generations to come.”
The Roadmap identifies six priority actions for advancing building decarbonization:
- Developing on-bill financing options to help reduce upfront costs faced by consumers when purchasing electric appliances;
- Prioritizing cash incentives at the point of sale;
- Providing free training on building decarbonization technologies to tradespeople;
- Strengthening gas planning at the Public Regulation Commission to enable a future clean heat standard;
- Exploring beneficial electrification rate design that can lower electric costs for households; and,
- Supporting grid modernization efforts and distribution system upgrades.
“According to our recently published Greenhouse Gas Inventory, we know that 57% of our pollution is from our own homes and businesses,” said Sustainability Officer Ann Simon. “We also know that the strategies in the Roadmap will help us reduce this pollution, be it financial incentives that reduce the cost of adopting clean energy, contractors who are trained in the installation of new technologies, or a modern grid that can handle the transition”.
The Roadmap identifies several actors that will be critical to achieving the recommendations, including governmental officials, utilities, educational and training institutions, environmental organizations, state agencies, and manufacturers and vendors. Read the full report at NMbuildingdecarb.org.
The following entities participated in the development of the Roadmap:
- 350 New Mexico
- Advanced Energy United
- Center for Civic Policy
- City of Albuquerque
- Coalition for Clean Affordable Energy
- Coalition of Sustainable Communities New Mexico
- El Paso Electric
- Housing New Mexico MFA
- Kit Carson Electric Cooperative
- New Mexico Attorney General’s Office
- New Mexico Climate Investment Center
- New Mexico Department of Finance Administration
- New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department
- New Mexico Home Solutions
- New Mexico People’s Energy Cooperative
- New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department
- New Mexico Rural Electric Cooperative Association
- Prosperity Works
- Public Service Company of New Mexico
- Rheem
- Renewable Energy Industries Association of New Mexico
- Sierra Club
- Southwest Energy Efficiency Project
- Southwestern Public Service Company
- Xcel Energy Company
- Tri-State Generation & Transmission Association
- Western Resource Advocates
In addition to these participants, the Building Decarbonization Coalition and Natural Resources Defense Council sponsored the project, and Gridworks facilitated the stakeholder process.
The Roadmap includes the following acknowledgment:
“This Roadmap represents a starting point and a collective expression of shared views by participating organizations rather than an account of each organization’s position on every issue. Although there may not be full alignment on each issue contained herein, participating organizations agree the Roadmap provides a reasonable foundation upon which to accelerate the elimination of operational greenhouse gas emissions from residential and small commercial buildings in New Mexico.”