Albuquerque Business First: Heinrich touts NM projects in promoting bill

Sen. Martin Heinrich (D, NM) highlighted work being done at the Brackish Groundwater National Desalination Research Facility in Alamogordo and at Sandia National Laboratory while delivering a Senate speech backing a proposed energy efficiency bill.

The Shaheen-Portman bill would direct the Department of Energy to work with the private sector to encourage research and development of energy-efficient technology and processes.

According to reports, the bill has some bipartisan support, but now could be derailed by debates over proposed amendments.

In his speech Tuesday, Heinrich highlighted the energy savings at the desalination plant and work done on energy-efficient lighting at Sandia.

“What the team at the Desalination Research Facility accomplished was truly impressive and an example of just what is possible with legislation like this,” Heinrich said. “They were able to save approximately 300,000 kilowatt-hours per year... an annual saving of $42,000. That’s a remarkable 53.6 percent of their former energy footprint, at a time when research at the facility was actually increasing. They did this through thoughtful analysis, by implementing both active and passive techniques, and a capital investment of not even $800.

“In Albuquerque, Sandia National Laboratories is accelerating advances in solid-state lighting, or SSL,a rapidly evolving technology with the potential to reduce energy consumption in lighting by a factor of three to six times.

Heinrich is a member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.