Heinrich: Clean energy helps economy, climate

This month, New Mexicans gathered to sign a 180-foot, 23,000-pound wind turbine blade in front of the Curry County Courthouse.

This gigantic blade will join two others on a tower that will be part of the Grady Wind Energy Center, one of three new wind energy projects in the county, which will produce approximately 500 megawatts. That’s enough power for 180,000 homes.

These projects will bring millions of dollars into the local economy. Pattern Development, which is building these projects, estimates the wind farms will bring almost $1 billion of economic impact to the region.

Almost 500 construction workers will build the wind farms. Landowners will receive more than $67.5 million over 30 years.

The project will pay $20 million per year for transmission services, benefiting PNM ratepayers.

Curry County will receive nearly $16 million in payments-in-lieu-of-taxes, a key funding source for local schools and public safety.

Earlier this year, I visited the North American Wind Research and Training Center at Mesalands Community College in Tucumcari and climbed to the top of their 200-foot-tall wind turbine.

This facility is training eastern New Mexicans, including Clovis Community College students, for long-term, high-paying technician jobs at wind farms.

Wind technician is the fastest growing job in the nation today. In 2015, wind energy supported 2,000 jobs in New Mexico. Our state saw a total of $1.8 billion of capital investment in wind farms even before these new projects. And we are just getting started.

In the coming years, New Mexico has the potential to become a major producer and exporter of wind and solar energy. The Department of Energy estimates New Mexico is capable of producing over 400,000 megawatts of wind energy by 2030.

With forward-looking energy policies, I’m confident we can meet our climate goals and create thousands of good paying jobs in the process.

I led a bipartisan group of lawmakers at the end of last year to pass an energy agreement to stimulate truly robust investments in clean energy production, while lifting a ban on oil exports that discriminated against domestically produced oil.

This legislation will help our state’s growing clean energy industry through strong incentives — including multi-year wind and solar production tax credits — while also supporting traditional energy sector jobs at a time when the industry in northwest and southeast New Mexico is struggling.

Extending the clean energy production and investment tax credits was critical to supporting new wind projects like the ones commencing construction in Curry County. These pro-growth tax policies encourage investors to finance new wind farms and create private sector jobs in our communities.