Questions from New Mexico Environment Department

1. Can an NGCC turbine that EPA has listed as excluded because of low utilization become an 

affected source under the rule if over time its utilization increases?

2. Is it possible to have EPA calculate the presumptive mass-based goal, or to have EPA staff work 

through it with us? The proposal does not provide a complete enough picture of how this will 

be implemented to allow us to properly comment on it.

3. Will we able to get credit for San Juan Generating Station’s closures as a result of the BART 

determination?

4. Why did EPA base the proposal on one year (2012) rather than the average of 3 or 5 years? How 

would that have changed the state goals?

5. What requirements will states have to meet to incorporate voluntary CO2 emission reductions 

into our SIP and are there any restrictions as to the quantity of those emission reductions 

included in the SIP?

6. How does EPA regional coordination work if a state aligns with states outside of their respective 

region?

7. NM borders three EPA regions, 6, 8, and 9. Will there be any efforts to communicate with these 

other regions and share info or sync up plans since they all border NM and in the case of Navajo 

Nation are part of NM?

8. NM exports a significant portion of the power produced here. As a result, the lower in-state 

consumption resulting from EE will not necessarily be reflected in lower mass emissions because 

the saved electricity could be exported. The proposal seems to say that EE would be accounted 

for under a mass-based goal by reduced production, but how would that work in energy export 

states?
9. The proposal would allow NM to get credit for renewable energy imported from another state. 

Would we be able to get credit for renewable energy produced on Tribal Lands and used in nonTribal areas in NM?

10. Could a state coordinate with a tribe (or tribes) instead of simply within a group of other states? 

For example, could New Mexico coordinate with the Navajo Nation which has two coal-fired 

power plants or with tribes with renewable energy production?

11. Does EPA envision that there could be something less than a full-blown regional approach in a 

multi-state approach?

12. Will the City of Albuquerque need to submit their own plan, or could NMED’s plan be sufficient 

for the entire state?

13. For those areas that AQB doesn’t regulate (RPS, EE, dispatch, etc.), how will those elements of 

the plan be federally enforceable?

14. Who will verify that renewable energy generation is not double-counted if a portion of the 

energy is exported?

15. Does EPA evaluate job losses and gains for each state? If so, please provide.

16. Please elaborate/clarify the intent of the last paragraph on page 121 (spilling over to page 122) 

of the prepublication version of the preamble regarding the alternative approach to BSER.

17. Will EPA consider the emission reductions associated with heat rate improvements that 

occurred prior to January 2014?

18. With regards to the 6% heat rate improvement: EPA has stated that 2012 isn’t a baseline, and 

yet the goal presumes that a 6% improvement of 2012 levels is possible. Some NM companies 

have already improved their heat rate, prior to 2012. If 2012 isn’t a baseline, why can’t they 

take into account previous improvements?
19. Why would PNM’s nuclear share purchase from an existing nuclear plant in Arizona not count 

some towards the state goal since it was specifically used to replace a coal burning unit in NM 

and is being used to meet demand in NM?

20. Why is the emission reduction goal for NM higher than in other states? Will this result in more 

expenses for NM and eventually a larger burden on rate payer?

21. Will compliance demonstrations, once we’ve created our State Plan, use ALL of our actual 

emissions divided by ALL of our actual generation (including all renewables)?

22. Will energy efficiency savings, in a rate based plan, be calculated similar to the way it’s 

calculated in the goal computations (adding MWh to the denominator), or will we be allowed to 

calculate avoided emissions and subtract it from the numerator? Will we have a choice?

23. Building block 3 (renewable energy) assumed that only the primary RPS levels were important. 

However, in a rural state, such as New Mexico, the secondary (lower) RPS levels for rural electric 

cooperatives make a difference, reducing our actual renewable level (for 2020) by 

approximately 12.5%. Is any adjustment of the state goal possible to account for this?

24. What is the baseline, if it’s not 2012? And is the baseline actual (whatever year) data? Or is it 

what EPA computed (which is not the same as the actual 2012 data)?

25. Could you present on 111(d) at the Four Corners Air Quality Group public meeting in early 

October in Farmington?