Clean Energy and Battery Storage the Lowest-Cost Option to Replace San Juan Coal Plant

New Study Finds Renewable Energy Investments Cost $94 Million Less Than Gas-fired Power Plants
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Thomas Young, Sierra Club Regional Communications Manager, thomas.young@sierraclub.org

New Mexico -- A study released this morning finds a mix of renewable energy, battery storage, and energy efficiency is the lowest-cost option for Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) to replace the coal-fired San Juan Generating Station. San Juan is on track to close in 2022.

This new analysis, conducted by Synapse Energy Economics, shows an all-clean-energy replacement is 1.5 percent less expensive through 2036 than replacing the power with new gas plants. In total, this combination of new clean energy can save PNM customers $94 million, and that doesn’t even account for cost savings resulting from improved environmental and public health.

“Coal and gas have always been the most polluting energy sources, and now they cost New Mexico families and businesses the most on electricity bills,” says Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign Regional Director, Evan Gillespie. “Building new renewable energy and battery storage infrastructure is the most reliable and lowest-cost way to meet New Mexico’s electricity needs.”

“The energy economy looks very different in the Southwest today than even just a couple years ago. There is no question the lowest-cost way to provide electricity in New Mexico is with renewables, battery storage, and energy efficiency,” says Sierra Club New Mexico Chapter Director Camilla Feibelman. “Now we have to make sure our state’s coal communities benefit from this growing 21st-century clean-energy economy."

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About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.