2023 Bid Selection Information
The information below pertains to the initial bid selection process that concluded on May 16, 2023.
The Commission selected a third-party Program Administrator, InClime, to facilitate an unbiased bid selection process for the available community solar capacity.
Community solar projects were selected through a competitive solicitation process. Each bid needed to meet minimum eligibility requirements. Eligible bids were scored using a set of non-price factors as specified in the project RFP (see below), with each factor weighted by the number of points awarded to the factor.
The Program Administrator limited consideration of bids by any one bidder to a maximum of twenty percent of the statewide capacity cap allocated to the applicable utility.
On July 26th, 2023, the Program Administrator hosted a webinar (linked here) dedicated to Disclosure Form compliance and generation, targeted to Subscriber Organizations of selected projects.
Program Allocations
The initial statewide program capacity of 200 MW AC (megawatts alternating current) was allocated among the three qualifying utilities as follows:
- Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM), 125 MW AC
- Southwestern Public Service Company (SPS), 45 MW AC
- El Paso Electric Company (EPE), 30 MW AC
Project Request for Proposals (RFP)
The virtual pre-bid conference took place on November 17, 2022. View the webinar here.
The Program Administrator released the final amended RFP on December 28, 2022, replacing the prior versions released on November 30, 2022, and November 3, 2022. Notable updates to the final amended RFP include:
- Updated language regarding site moves
- Removal of the need to provide labor arrangements
- Updated language around local ownership
- Clarification around the bonus points specifically the Procurement Preferences
A redlined comparison of the December 28, 2022, and November 30, 2022, RFP is available for review.
Tiebreaker (May 1, 2023)
On May 1, 2023, a tiebreaker event was conducted for the New Mexico Community Solar Program. The event was held at the New Mexico PRC in Santa Fe and was broadcast live. Each of the 408 bids that paid the program application fee had a representative ticket that was drawn at random from a spinning raffle drum. To account for both current and any potential future ties, all of the bid IDs were drawn.
The recording of the event can be found on the PRC’s website here and the order of bid IDs drawn can be found here.
