Albuquerque – Power The Future issued the following statement in response to Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham's state of the state address:

"New Mexicans deserve the truth, but unfortunately that's not what they got from Governor Lujan Grisham today," said Larry Behrens, Western States Director for Power The Future. "The Governor's anti-energy agenda is causing electric rates to go up, unemployment to rise and energy jobs are again at the lowest point in over a decade. The Governor's remarks are so out-of-touch she didn't even mention her plan to deal with President Biden's order to stop energy production permits on federal land in New Mexico."

During the Governor's address, she said her energy efforts are "driving down energy costs." This is far from the truth as one New Mexico utility is seeking to raise electric bills for over 100,000 customers to pay for new infrastructure that complies with the Governor's Energy Transition Act.

The Governor's signature anti-energy bill, often called New Mexico's own Green New Deal isn't meeting its own goals. Every utility in the state failed to meet the first renewable requirement of Energy Transition Act while the state continues to lose jobs.

The Governor's remarks come on the same day the latest employment numbers were released. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, New Mexico now ranks 45th for employment while losing 7,500 jobs between November and December of 2020. The state's unemployment rate increased from 7.2% to 8.2%, representing the 5th highest jump during the same time period.

In fact, the number of jobs in the "mining and logging" sector which encompasses energy workers now matches the October 2020 ranking for being the lowest point since June 2010. Meanwhile, neighboring Texas added jobs in the same sector at the same time.

Larry Behrens
Western States Director for Power the Future