Systems

PNM owns and operates 3,189 miles of transmission lines, which move power long distances from power plants to areas of high electric demand, and 11,149 miles of distribution lines which carry power from 276 neighborhood substations to customers' homes and businesses. The installation and upkeep of these lines is critical to providing reliable electric service.

The Northern New Mexico transmission system delivers power to customers in northern communities including the Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Las Vegas areas, as well as customers in Valencia County south of Albuquerque. About 90 percent of the power demand by PNM customers is within the northern transmission system boundary.

Projections of the transmission requirement for serving the combined northern customer demand and obligations to other customers that use our system show a need to expand existing transmission or generation in future years. Possible solutions include new power generation resources such as natural gas or solar plants, power line additions, reinforcements that increase capacity or programs that decrease usage such as the PNM Power Saver program.

More than 40 percent of our transmission system is used by other utilities and independent generators who need to move power from their own energy sources to customers in New Mexico, Arizona, California or to other utilities.

Where your power comes from

The table below lists power plants and other generation facilities that provide power for PNM customers. Some plants are designed to operate most of the time while others operate only during periods of high demand or when system conditions require their use. The chart does not represent the additional (current as of March 2018) 85 MW of customer generated energy produced by rooftop solar systems that are connected to our power grid. 

2017 Electric Generation by Resource Type