Heinrich Addresses First Ever Electrify New Mexico Event

ALBUQUERQUE – This week, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the Electrification Caucus, provided a video keynote speech to the first ever Business to Business Electrify New Mexico event hosted by Renewable Energy Industries Association of New Mexico.

U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich addresses the Electrify New Mexico event, April 4, 2024.

“Very soon, most of us will power our cars, heat our water, and heat and cool our homes with clean electrons rather than hydrocarbon molecules,” said Heinrich. “This will not only help us meet the moment and achieve our climate goals. It will help working families in our state lower their costs and live in healthier and more comfortable homes. I want New Mexico small businesses and our workforce to be ready for all the opportunities that will come with this major shift.” 

“The buildout of our clean energy and fully electrified future is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to grow the middle class. But only if we invest in training our workforce and small business owners for what’s ahead,” Heinrich continued. “Over the next decade, to meet growing demands for electrification, we will need to fill thousands of job openings. For electricians, plumbers and pipefitters, HVAC mechanics, and utility line workers. As the proud son of an IBEW lineman, I know what these types of good-paying, union jobs can mean for New Mexicans. These are careers that New Mexicans can build their families around while also helping us build our fully electrified future.”

Heinrich fought aggressively to pass the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, helping to securemajor provisions, including a new rebate program that mirrors his Zero-Emission Homes Act. In the year and a half since its enactment, the new law is already delivering real results for New Mexicans — fighting inflation and lowering costs, transforming domestic clean energy production and manufacturing, and reducing the nation’s climate warming carbon emissions.  

Heinrich’s full remarks for Electrify New Mexico are below:

I am excited to welcome you to the first ever Business to Business Electrify New Mexico event. I’d like to thank the Renewable Energy Industries Association of New Mexico for bringing us together today.

This event is not only about the future of electrification in our state. It’s about the future New Mexico we want our children to inherit. 

Very soon, most of us will power our cars, heat our water, and heat and cool our homes with clean electrons rather than hydrocarbon molecules. This will not only help us meet the moment and achieve our climate goals. It will help working families in our state lower their costs and live in healthier and more comfortable homes.

I have been working for years to help more New Mexico families access the benefits and cost savings associated with electrification. In the last Congress, I was proud to play a leading role in passing historic investments in the Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. 

I fought especially hard to create new consumer home electrification rebates in the Inflation Reduction Act. These rebates will make it easier for working families to upgrade their homes with electric appliances like heat pumps.

Last month, the Department of Energy announced that New Mexico was the first state in the whole country to submit an application to roll out the IRA’s Home Energy Rebates. I am eager to see these savings make it to New Mexico families.

There are already major cost saving tax credits available today from the Inflation Reduction Act that can assist families with home energy assessments and clean energy upgrades. That includes 30 percent tax credits for everything from rooftop solar and battery storage to home energy assessments and electric upgrades.

All of these investments and incentives are going to accelerate what was already a seismic shift toward clean energy and widespread electrification.

Together, we can position New Mexico to capitalize on the opportunities that will come with this transition. To lead not just our nation — but our world — in the transition to a clean energy and fully electrified future.

We are already well on our way.

Thanks to the transformative federal investments I was so proud to secure, we’re delivering a clean energy manufacturing boom – at places like the Arcosa Wind Towers manufacturing facility in Belen, in Albuquerque, where a massive Maxeon solar cells and modules factory will open soon, and in the major expansions at homegrown New Mexico companies like Array Technologies and Pajarito Powder.  

Last year, we also broke ground on the SunZia Transmission and Wind Project. SunZia will become the largest clean energy infrastructure project ever built in the Western Hemisphere. And we are building it in New Mexico.

These investments are only the beginning. 

Just last month, the Department of Energy awarded Pajarito Powder with not one, but two 10 million dollar awards from the Inflation Reduction Act. This will help the company scale production of components for electrolyzers and fuel cells. And it will keep New Mexico at the center of clean energy innovation.

In communities across our state, we’re seeing schools take advantage of the investments we secured to electrify their school buses. We are seeing local communities commit to electrifying their vehicle fleets and public buildings. And we are building a nationwide EV charging network for passenger vehicles and delivery trucks.

More families, small business owners, and homebuilders are increasingly going to choose more efficient, electric options. Not only for vehicles. But also for the appliances in their buildings.

I want New Mexico small businesses and our workforce to be ready for all the opportunities that will come with this major shift. The buildout of our clean energy and fully electrified future is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to grow the middle class. But only if we invest in training our workforce and small business owners for what’s ahead.

Over the next decade, to meet growing demands for electrification, we will need to fill thousands of job openings. For electricians, plumbers and pipefitters, HVAC mechanics, and utility line workers. As the proud son of an IBEW lineman, I know what these types of good-paying, union jobs can mean for New Mexicans. These are careers that New Mexicans can build their families around while also helping us build our fully electrified future.

We need to invest in proven career training pathways to prepare many more New Mexicans for these skilled trades careers. That means working collaboratively with labor unions, community colleges, and private industry. And it means expanding career technical education and work-based opportunities in emerging electrification fields.

That’s why I called on the Biden Administration to launch the American Climate Corps to connect tens of thousands of young people to careers in clean energy and climate resilience. I am also working to advance legislation in the Senate to expand access to apprenticeship—and pre-apprenticeship—programs. These work-based training programs have proven successful in growing our skilled workforce. We need to scale them substantially.

We are on the precipice of major changes across so many industries that will offer us so many opportunities. It’s exactly why I’ve fought so hard over the last decade to deliver forward-looking investments. Investments that will prepare hardworking New Mexicans for success in our clean energy and fully electrified future.

And we are only just getting started.  

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