News Release

March 19, 2003

Crews, Equipment Go to Work at New Mexico Wind Energy Center

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

Albuquerque: Construction of New Mexico Wind Energy Center, the nation's third largest wind generation facility, has begun.

Officials of PNM (NYSE: PNM) and Florida-based FPL Energy (NYSE: FPL) said today that crews have begun to construct a series of dirt roads on Taiban Mesa, near the small town of House, N.M. — a critical first step in transforming a portion of the mesa into an energy production facility that will produce no air emissions and use no water to generate electricity.

The New Mexico Wind Energy Center will be fully operational sometime during the third quarter of this year. Over the next 25 years, it will bring more than $40 million to the rural economies of DeBaca and Quay counties. Construction is expected to involve 120 to 150 workers, while the facility will permanently employ about a dozen workers. After construction is complete, more than 95 percent of the land leased for the wind center will still be available for other uses, such as grazing or crop production.

"This is a landmark achievement for New Mexico — and an historic day for House and nearby Fort Sumner," said Jeff Sterba, PNM chairman, president and CEO. "Within a few months, this wind center will make New Mexico the fifth largest producer of wind energy among the fifty states. It will also make the residents of House and Fort Sumner a partner in our effort to offer PNM customers renewable energy for the very first time."

Sterba said PNM expects to introduce a green tariff at the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (PRC) sometime this spring. Once in place, that tariff would allow PNM customers to subscribe to energy from the wind center in return for a small monthly premium.

Michael O'Sullivan, senior vice president of development for FPL Energy, said, "This is another important milestone in bringing clean, renewable energy to New Mexico. As the nation's leader in wind energy we look forward to adding the New Mexico Wind Energy Center to our growing portfolio of wind energy assets and our new partnership with PNM."

Once complete, FPL Energy's New Mexico Wind Energy Center will be capable of producing 204 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 94,000 average-sized New Mexico homes. It will be comprised of 136 towers, each more than 200 feet tall, spread over 15 miles of mesa top. Each tower will have three 110-foot blades, engineered to rotate and capture the wind at various speeds. The rotating blades will cause a generator at the top of each tower to produce electricity, which will then be fed onto a nearby high-voltage power line owned by PNM.

FPL Energy will own and operate the facility; PNM will purchase all of its output.

FPL Energy is the nation's leader in wind energy, with 28 wind facilities in 10 states. FPL Energy is a leading independent producer of clean energy from natural gas, wind, solar, nuclear and hydroelectric. Wind power represents approximately 24 percent of the company's portfolio, with more than 80 percent being fueled by renewable or clean-burning sources. It has more than 80 facilities, with nearly 7,300 megawatts in operation. It is a subsidiary of FPL Group, Inc., nationally known as a high quality, efficient and customer-driven organization focused on energy-related products and services. Its sister subsidiary, Florida Power & Light Company, serves more than 4 million customer accounts in Florida. Additional information is available on the Internet at www.fplgroup.com, www.fpl.com and www.fplenergy.com.

PNM is the principal subsidiary of PNM Resources, an energy holding company based in Albuquerque. PNM provides natural gas service to 441,000 gas customers and electric utility service to 378,000 customers in New Mexico. The company also sells power on the wholesale market in the Western U.S. PNM Resources stock is traded primarily on the NYSE under the symbol PNM. For more information about our company, see our web site at PNM.com.