Faith Leaders Promote Electric Vehicles

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New Mexico has the opportunity to adopt Advanced Clean Vehicle Standards which would reduce pollution from transportation, move us forward on climate goals, and make electric vehicles more accessible to all by increasing production and lowering costs. We have asked  people of faith and conscience in our state (and neighboring El Paso) to tell us why electric vehicles are important. We hope these voices will  help encourage NMED (New Mexico Environment Department) to advocate for strong standards.  We have posted a few videos  and will be adding more
on this page on our website.

Letters and Op-Eds on Electric Vehicles

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Ruth Striegel, co-chair of Interfaith Power & Light New Mexico and El Paso, penned a great letter to the editor in the Saturday, July 15, edition of the Albuquerque Journal,  

Transition to EVs must happen ASAP

I PURCHASED a lightly-used Nissan LEAF all-electric vehicle in 2016. Because there were almost no such vehicles available in Albuquerque, I had to find one from out of state. Consumers want EVs, and we want our local dealers to carry and service them. Although my car’s range is less than 100 miles, I charge up at home, plan ahead, and get along very nicely without using a public charging station. New EVs have much longer ranges, and they will only get better.

Thanks to federal funds, New Mexico will have fast-charging stations every 50 miles on our interstates, as well as on U.S. 550.

We need clean electricity to replace fossil fuels. I’m able to charge my car using roof-top solar. Once we get community solar up and running, many more people will have access to that clean source of energy.

Our planet’s climate systems are breaking down. If we are to have any hope of repairing them, we must stop burning fossil fuels ASAP. We must change our habits and our thinking and put the good of the planet before our personal wants and convenience. The transition to EVs must happen quickly, and the governor’s push to put more EVs in dealerships is a good move in that direction.

The letter is contained in the Talk of Town section along with other letters on EVs

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Sunday, July 16,Tammy Fiebelkorn, friend of IPL-NM & EP, published an opinion piece on EVs

Present and future bright for EV charging stations in NM

By Tammy Fiebelkorn

Albuquerque city councilor, District 7; N.M. representative, Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP)

Opponents of the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) paint a false dystopian picture of people trapped in vehicles, unable to go beyond the borders of their neighborhoods due to a lack of charging stations.

The Journal’s July 7 editorial, published four days after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham proposed an important clean cars and trucks standard for New Mexico, played on this trope with outdated talking points on EV charging infrastructure. In fact, there was an EV charging station right where the governor made her announcement, and two more within a few blocks. New Mexico has 500 EV chargers statewide, and more are coming soon.

The proposed vehicle standard would require 43% of new cars and trucks for sale in New Mexico to be zero-emission vehicles starting with model year 2027, rising to 82% for model year 2032. This standard would affect significantly less than 43% of people because the regulation impacts only new vehicle sales. Only about 25% of drivers across the country purchase new vehicles. And Clean Car standards do not apply to any vehicles already on the road….

A Clean Cars standard will increase sales of electric vehicles and help New Mexico significantly reduce its greenhouse gas and air pollution. Saving lives from air pollution and our children from climate catastrophe call for our best efforts to create solutions, not to be dismissed as impractical.

The transition to EVs is perhaps the largest change in America’s transportation infrastructure since the creation of the U.S. highway system nearly a century ago, and the move from horses to Model Ts before that. This shift carries obvious challenges, but the EV charging landscape in New Mexico is already evolving rapidly to meet drivers’ needs.

Read Full Piece

Kit Carson Electric Cooperative Awarded $800,000 for Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Stations

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Award grant part of New Mexico Department of Transportation electric vehicle charging station grant program funded by American Rescue Plan Act of 2021

Taos, New Mexico – Kit Carson Electric Cooperative, Inc (KCEC) today announced that the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) has selected KCECs proposed EV projects to receive $800,000 in grant funds appropriated to the NMDOT by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Section 9901 State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds.

The NMDOT award for KCEC will provide funding for engineering services, design, and installation of electric vehicle (EV) DC fast charging stations across seven New Mexico locations under the NMDOT Level 3 Direct Current Electric Vehicle Charging Station Grant Program. The charging station host entity and their respective locations are:

·      Angel Fire Ski Resort, Angel Fire, NM

·      Red River Convention Center, Red River, NM

·      El Rito Northern New Mexico College, El Rito, NM

·      Picuris Administration Building, Penasco, NM

·      Questa Village Hall, Questa, NM

·      Oja Calliente Mineral Springs Resort & Spa, Oja Caliente, NM

·      Taos Plaza, Taos, NM (2)

KCEC began establishing EV charging stations throughout its service area in 2019 as part of its plan to be among the cleanest, most cost-effective electric cooperatives in America. With the new charging sites, KCEC will have 50 total EV charging stations and expand its contribution toward New Mexico’s statewide objective to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by the year 2030.  The EV grant award is the latest in a string of 2022 milestones KCEC is meeting in partnership with its wholesale power provider, Guzman Energy, including having lower retail electricity rates than any Tri-State member cooperative, and achieving 100% daytime solar powered this year.

“With these new charging stations, we are providing our members with expanded clean energy economy services that improve quality of life and economic opportunity in our region,” said Luis A. Reyes, Jr., CEO of KCEC. “We are thrilled that the NMDOT shares our vision to ensure EV services are available to our community as well as to our valued New Mexico tourism visitors.”

The new charging stations are targeted to be operational around 2023.