KEEP NEW MEXICO'S ECONOMY GROWING
New Mexico’s energy future is on the line.
In the next five years, parts of Lea and Eddy Counties will see electricity demand surge by 10% to 38%. Without new power, businesses can’t expand, jobs will be lost, and billions in investment could pass us by.
The state is accepting public comments until August 22, 2025. Your voice can help make it happen.
Southwestern Public Service Company (SPS) is requesting state certification for 14 major energy projects that will:
√ Keep pace with growing electricity demand
√ Create high-quality jobs
√ Unlock billions in new investment
√ Strengthen New Mexico’s long-term energy future
WHAT’S AT STAKE
Approving these projects will deliver measurable, lasting economic gains for our communities:
- $609.7 million in construction spending – supporting 375–450 job-years in New Mexico
- $46.2 million in payments to local landowners and counties
- $127.2 million in long-term operational spending
- Up to $5 billion in capital investment from oil and gas electrification, reducing costs and emissions
- Increased tax revenues for schools, roads, and public services
Who Is SPS?
A New Mexico-based electric utility, part of Xcel Energy, serving ~126,100 customers and 16 communities in NM.
What’s Being Requested?
Certification of 14 new wind, solar, battery storage, and natural gas projects as economic development projects under Senate Bill 170.
Why Now?
NM’s Permian Basin and surrounding regions face 10%–38% projected load growth in certain areas by 2030. Without these projects, economic opportunities may be lost due to power constraints.
What Does Certification Do?
Allows SPS to move forward with these projects, paving the way for more investment, job creation, and community benefits.
3.5 Million Homes
Forecasted 3,190-megawatt electricity generation shortfall for New Mexico by 2030 — enough to power approximately 3.5 million average U.S. homes for a year.
$13 Billion
Estimated total annual contribution of the oil and natural gas industry to New Mexico’s overall economy, factoring in jobs, wages, and economic activity.
$2.3 Billion
Annual education funding provided by oil and gas revenues, supporting more than 130,000 students, nearly 400 public schools, and an estimated 10,000 teachers statewide.
400,000
Approximate number of New Mexicans whose jobs or household income are directly or indirectly supported by the oil and gas sector.
THE BENEFITS NEW MEXICO CAN'T AFFORD TO LOSE
Share Your Support: Copy, Paste, and Submit Your Comment
The New Mexico Economic Development Department is accepting public comments on SPS’s Economic Development Certification request until August 22, 2025.
Below, you’ll find sample letters you can use.
You can copy any of these letters, paste them into the comment portal, and add your own personal touches if you’d like. Even a short, direct message of support makes a difference.
Step 1: Copy one of the sample letters below.
Step 2: Click the button to open the public comment portal.
Step 3: Paste your letter, make any edits you wish, and submit.
Sample Letter for Elected Officials
As a [Title] for [County/Municipality Name], I appreciate the opportunity to provide input on Southwest Public Service Company’s request for Economic Development Certification. This process gives local leaders and communities a meaningful voice in shaping the energy future of our state.
Rural areas in New Mexico, including ours, have often experienced slower investment in infrastructure compared to other regions. Projects like the one proposed by Southwest Public Service Company are vital to reversing that trend. They bring much-needed local jobs, generate additional gross receipts tax revenue, and help strengthen the budgets of local governments — allowing us to better serve our residents.
I am sure there will be positions taken by communities such as Santa Fe or Albuquerque, but for those of us who live and work here in the Permian Basin — raising our families, educating our kids, and maintaining our livelihoods through ranching, farming, local businesses, and industry — this project is one we strongly support. Our communities understand the value of this kind of investment, and we urge the Economic Development Department to approve the application for an Economic Development Certificate for Southwest Public Service Company.
This investment will also support the continued growth of southeast New Mexico’s economy, particularly the oil and gas sector, by providing more dispatchable power to meet increasing demand. Electrifying operations in this way not only ensures more reliable service, it also helps companies reduce emissions in alignment with our state’s ambitious clean energy goals.
New Mexico has taken bold steps toward achieving a cleaner energy mix by 2050. Projects like this will help utilities meet those targets while paving the way for additional energy infrastructure that benefits both local communities and the state as a whole. In an era where permitting delays are a major barrier to progress nationwide, it is encouraging to see processes like this one that prioritize the public’s best interest.
I respectfully urge your favorable consideration of this application.
Sincerely,
[Name]
[Title]
[School District Name]
Sample Letter for Business Leaders
I’m writing as a business owner in [City/County Name] to express my strong support for Southwest Public Service Company’s request for an Economic Development Certificate. This project represents the kind of investment rural New Mexico needs to keep our economy moving forward.
Our community depends on dependable energy. Businesses can’t expand, hire, or plan for the future without it. The proposed generation investment will give us more reliable power, reduce the risk of outages, and create local construction jobs. It will also bring in new gross receipts tax revenue, which is critical for keeping local services funded.
Those of us in the Permian Basin live and work here every day. We operate businesses, employ local people, raise our families, and contribute to the economy of the entire state. We know what it takes to grow an economy in a rural area, and we see this project as an opportunity to strengthen that foundation.
I recognize that opinions on projects like this can vary. Communities far from here may see it differently, but in our region, the need is clear. Oil and gas operations are growing, and the ability to electrify more of those operations means lower emissions, more efficiency, and better long-term stability for the grid.
This is a smart move for the state and a direct benefit for our region. I urge the Economic Development Department to approve the application and allow Southwest Public Service Company to move forward.
Sincerely,
[Name]
[Title]
[School District Name]
Sample Letter for School Board Members
On behalf of [School District Name], we are submitting this letter in strong support of Southwest Public Service Company’s application for an Economic Development Certificate. This project is important to the future of our schools, our students, and our community.
In New Mexico, the single largest source of funding for public education comes from oil and gas production. These revenues pay for teacher salaries, new classrooms, technology upgrades, extracurricular programs, and much more. They also help maintain our roads, fund public safety, and build community infrastructure.
When industries in our region succeed, our students benefit. Reliable, expanded power generation will help the oil and gas sector continue operating efficiently, meeting environmental goals, and sustaining the revenues that make our public school system possible. Importantly, this project will also contribute to lowering emissions, which benefits the health and well-being of our entire community. Our region already works hard to ensure that energy production is as clean and safe as possible, and adding this generation capacity is a timely step forward.
This project will create good-paying local jobs during construction, and its long-term benefits will reach well beyond the energy sector. Stronger infrastructure allows local businesses to grow, attracts new employers, and helps communities thrive. For schools, that means a stronger tax base, more opportunities for our students, and the resources to keep pace with changing educational needs.
We want our graduates to have every reason to stay and build their lives here. That requires good schools, strong businesses, and the infrastructure to support them both. Approving this application is a step toward ensuring that future.
We respectfully ask that the Economic Development Department approve Southwest Public Service Company’s request for an Economic Development Certificate. Doing so will benefit our students, our schools, and the broader community.
Sincerely,
[Name]
[Title]
[School District Name]
Sample Letter for Small Businesses
I’m writing to provide public comment for SPS’ application for EDD certification that their Proposed Capacity Expansions in New Mexico are “certified economic development projects” under Laws 2025, Chapter 71.
I live and work in southeastern New Mexico. I have seen firsthand how difficult it is for new businesses to get power. We desperately need new power in this area—oil and gas is not the only industry that is constrained by lack of power, all economic development in the area is similarly waiting on more electric load to become available on the grid.
Often, rural communities like ours are not what people in Santa Fe and Albuquerque think about when they think about economic development. However, we live in the epicenter of the oil boom and there are so many jobs in our communities that radiate out from the oil and gas industry from the tire shop downtown to the sandwich shop on the corner to the schools that are training the workforce. The projects proposed by Xcel and the infrastructure that will go along with it will help overcome the power bottle neck and help jobs in our rural communities continue to grow.
We live closest to these projects, and we need this power. We need your department to certify these projects as “economic development projects” so that our community can grow. Rural areas are often marginalized, and we sometimes feel powerless, but getting this economic development on the expedited PRC approval timeline will go a long way to helping our communities in a real and meaningful way. Thank you in advance for your help in certifying these projects.
Sincerely,
Your Name