PNM Response to Governor's Letter to EPA

April 27, 2012

"We thank Gov. Martinez for her leadership on this issue. Like the governor and the N.M. Environment Department, we believe the state’s visibility plan fully complies with the path laid out by the Clean Air Act to return national parks and wilderness areas to natural visibility levels over several decades. And like the governor and NMED, we have asked the EPA to grant us a delay, or stay, while the court considers whether the EPA, in adopting its own plan, has violated federal law and its own regulations.

"We fully support the governor’s request to the EPA to grant a stay of the federal plan and to provide more specific feedback on why it believes the federal plan should prevail over the state plan. The federal plan would unfairly burden our customers, and the customers of the eight other owners of San Juan Generating Station, with hundreds of millions of dollars in needless costs. Without a stay on the federal plan, we are beginning to incur those very costs.

"As part of her request, the governor has asked us to look at alternatives beyond the two plans, and we are willing to do that. In accordance with her request, we hope that EPA will grant a stay so that we can more productively consider potential alternatives. While we have an obligation to keep electricity affordable for customers, we also take seriously our role as a steward of the environment. If we are able to move toward a dialogue on alternatives, we will continue to seek a balanced approach that considers customer costs, environmental benefit and the economic impact to the citizens of the state, particularly the Four Corners region."

Pat Vincent-Collawn, chairman, president and CEO, PNM Resources