News Release

Feb. 25, 2003

San Juan Generating Station Celebrates 1 Million
Man Hours With No Lost-Time Accidents

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NEWS MEDIA CONTACT Susan Sponar Telephone: (505) 241-2768

Farmington: Employees at San Juan Generating Station (SJGS), New Mexico's largest power plant, have achieved a new safety record of working more than 1 million hours without a lost-time accident.

It took one year, one month and 18 days for the plant's 430 employees to reach 1 million hours. This accomplishment, which occurred Feb. 18, far exceeds the plant's previous record of 225,000 man hours worked, or about three months, without a lost-time accident.

Lost-time accidents occur when an employee is injured on the job and misses one full day or more from work, not counting the day of the injury.

"This is a huge accomplishment for San Juan and every employee who helped make it happen," said plant manager Russell Huffman. "It's a great example of employee involvement and management's commitment to maintaining a safe and productive workplace. I don't see this achievement as an end; it's a milestone in our continuing improvement of safety performance at San Juan."

SJGS management worked to increase safety awareness during the last few years by instituting safety activities in the workplace and offering behavioral-based incentives to keep employees focused on working safely. The incentive program recognizes employees who practice safety in their everyday tasks and warns employees about unsafe practices.

A group of union employees at SJGS investigates all injuries to identify and remove root causes to prevent injuries from happening in the future.

"All the employees work together as a team on safety issues," Huffman said. "They watch out for each other and are not afraid of intervening and suggesting a corrective action if they see a potentially hazardous or unsafe situation at the plant."

San Juan Generating Station, located about 15 miles northwest of Farmington, is operated by PNM and consists of four coal-fired, pressurized units that generate about 1,800 gross megawatts of electricity to serve PNM's customer base and that of eight other owners. It is the seventh-largest coal-fired generating station in the West. San Juan is PNM's primary generation source, serving 58 percent of the power needs of PNM customers.