BCP Buyout of NM Gas Derailed after our Joint Motion to Dismiss. Also Sign our petition to end EMNRD's gaslighting. Hydrogen is not Zero-Carbon!
- New Energy Economy
- Jun 12
- 3 min read
As we reported last week, New Energy Economy joined the New Mexico Department of Justice, and other advocates in a motion to dismiss or delay the hearing regarding Bernhard Capital Partners application to acquire New Mexico Gas Company after BCP, Emera and NM Gas Company sought to make last minute substantive changes to their application. The attempt to amend the deal one month before the scheduled hearing is contrary to PRC Rules of Procedure and would have made it impossible to conduct adequate discovery and prepare testimony responsive to these new proposals just one month before the scheduled hearing. On Monday the Hearing Examiner agreed with our arguments and ordered a new pre-hearing conference to determine how to proceed. That conference took place today. The Hearing Examiners agreed with our motion and instructed BCP et al. to file a new application after the PRC rules on an appeal BCP filed seeking to keep their testimony confidential.
Meanwhile, the Governor and her administration continue their gaslighting, pushing fossil fueled hydrogen as a climate solution.
In an outrageous and insulting petition to the Public Regulation Commission, EMNRD Secretary Kenderdine has asked the PRC to make a determination that hydrogen should count as a "zero carbon resource" for the purposes of the Renewable Portfolio Standard, a prospect that spits in the face of everyone who fought to establish New Mexico's renewable energy goals and clearly exposes the duplicity at the heart of an administration that has continuously pointed to that very standard as evidence of their climate bonafides. Today, together with the Center for Biological Diversity we filed a response in opposition to EMNRD's petition asking the PRC to deny the petition as speculative, outside the PRC's authority and contrary to the basic purpose of the Renewable Energy Act.
The inclusion of fossil fueled hydrogen as a zero-carbon resource would subvert the purpose of the Renewable Energy Act - propping up the oil and gas industry instead of leading a transition away from it. This petition was made despite conclusive evidence that:
99% of hydrogen production in the US relies on Steam Methane Reforming (SMR) or coal gasification, which, despite carbon capture promises, can result in more climate altering emissions than just burning methane directly when the significant upstream emissions are included in the calculations.
Claims of "zero-carbon" from SMR rely on carbon capture technology that has repeatedly failed to capture anywhere close to the 95% that industry often claims. A March 2025 report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis notes that operational hydrogen production facilities have achieved average capture rates between 40% and 68%.
Hydrogen production makes no economic sense - wasting up to 60% of energy input in the process of production and transportation. The truth is that now that 45V hydrogen production tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act are being axed, industry is hoping hydrogen projects can get off the ground by promising to make money through the sale of Renewable Energy Credits in New Mexico. Hell No!
The Renewable Portfolio Standard was implemented specifically to facilitate a transition away from fossil fuels. The administration's effort to greenlight hydrogen as a zero-carbon resource through the Public Regulation Commission is a betrayal of the people of New Mexico, of future generations of humanity and of Mother Earth. Sign the petition below to ask the PRC to reject Secretary Kenderdine's application.
