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News Release
Oct. 10, 2003
U.S. Sen. Bingaman, NMPIRG and New Mexico
Businesses Sign Up for Renewable Power
Albuquerque: PNM added five government, business and
non-profit leaders to its list of customers who have shown
their commitment to the environment by purchasing wind-generated
electricity through PNM Sky Blue.
U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman, New Mexico Public Interest Research
Group (NMPIRG), Whole Foods Market, Page One Bookstore and
Newsstand, and Johnson & Johnson Ethicon Endo-Surgery
today signed up for PNM Sky Blue, a voluntary program that
allows customers to purchase renewable energy for a small
monthly premium.
Bingaman, a longtime advocate for renewable energy, signed
up to have 90 percent of the electric use at his Santa Fe
residence met with energy from PNM Sky Blue, the highest participation
rate available to residential customers.
"We need to move in the direction of using more renewable
energy," Bingaman said during a sign-up ceremony this
morning. "I'm very pleased to see that PNM is leading
the way in that regard."
Jeanne Bassett, executive director of non-profit, non-partisan
NMPIRG, also lauded PNM Sky Blue. "Besides good public
policy, the second component to developing our vast renewable
resources is through consumer choice — and that is where
PNM's Sky Blue program comes in," Bassett said. "New
Mexicans now have an opportunity to go beyond the 10 percent
base load that is being phased in over time and send the message
they want the immediate additional development of renewable
energy sources."
Bassett signed NMPIRG's Albuquerque office at the 90 percent
participation rate. She estimated it would cost NMPIRG only
an additional $6 a month.
Sonya Woodhouse, facility engineer for Ethicon Endo-Surgery
said, "We have to find other ways to support our environment,
and this is a way to do it." Woodhouse, who toured the
New Mexico Wind Energy Center in May, remarked, "After
I took that tour, I said, 'We have to do this.' "
Steve Stout, owner of locally-owned Page One Bookstore and
Newsstand, said he would urge his customers and the local
business community to follow his lead in signing up for PNM
Sky Blue. "We are your community," he said.
Jamie Bair, manager of Whole Foods Market, which has locations
in both Albuquerque and Santa Fe, said purchasing renewable
energy supported her company's motto: Whole Food, Whole People,
Whole Planet. "PNM Sky Blue helps create that symbiotic
circle," Bair said.
Customers interested in subscribing to PNM Sky Blue can do
so online by visiting PNM.com, by calling PNM, by visiting
a PNM walk-in office or by sending in a form they will find
in their October PNM bill.
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