New Mexico’s Climate Strategy and Electricity Sector Implications
Channel: New Mexico EPSCoR
Date: 31/07/2020

Presenters: Laura Tabor, Sustainability & Resilience Officer, New Mexico Energy,
Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD)
Jacqueline Waite, Clean Energy Program Manager, EMNRD

Abstract
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham issued Executive Order 2019-003 on climate change in January 2019. This order established the New Mexico Interagency Climate Change Task Force and included several policy directives for state agencies to implement. This presentation will give an overview of the 2019 New Mexico Climate Strategy report produced in response to EO 2019-003. We will also cover legislative and regulatory
updates from the past few months and provide additional depth and detail on strategy and planned action in the electricity sector.

Speaker Bios
Laura Tabor is the Sustainability and Resilience Officer at the New Mexico
Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department. She coordinates
climate action across state agencies through New Mexico’s Climate Change
Task Force. Laura has nearly ten years of experience in clean energy and
climate work. Prior to her current role, she led program evaluation and
market research projects for utility clean energy programs across the US.
She holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Dartmouth College and a Master of Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Jacqueline Waite is a Clean Energy Program Manager in the Energy
Conservation and Management Division of the NM Energy Minerals &
Natural Resources Department. She is leading the state’s grid
modernization roadmap development process and will manage the grid
modernization grant program. Prior to coming to state government,
Jacqueline was an Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE)
post-doctoral fellow hosted by the U.S. EPA’s RE-Powering America’s Land Program. She has a BA from Colgate University and a PhD from the University of Maryland, Department of Geographical Sciences.