By Mary Alice Murphy

The Silver City-Grant County Chamber of Commerce brought a speaker back to his hometown to talk to the members at their monthly luncheon on Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021.

Bruce Ashburn, PNM representative in Silver City, and a Chamber board member, introduced Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Don Tarry.

Ashburn said: "I wish everyone had been with us yesterday. We talked to business leaders, and we visited Silver High School classes, where your PNM CFO spoke to students and the Silver High student council. Next, we went to Western New Mexico University and also visited with students. The man I saw yesterday showed care, and passion and investment in the community. PNM donated $5,000 to each of the school districts, Silver and Cobre. He has been with PNM since 1996. He graduated from Silver High School and his dad was a long-time professor at WNMU. Don Tarry is slated to take over as chairman of PNM when the merger is completed."

Tarry said: "I am so glad to be back in my hometown. My wife is from Silver City, too, but she couldn't be here today. There is a culture here that I just love. I would like to introduce some of the students from Western that I invited here today."

Three students stood and introduced themselves, two in accounting, with one working on her master's in business administration, and another working on a business administration degree.

"My dad taught at WNMU," Tarry confirmed. "He worked alongside your Mayor (Ken) Ladner. My dad had a lot of titles. He had a Ph.D., so he was called Dr. Tarry and he was also a Lt. Colonel. But the most important thing he taught me was prior to his death a few years ago, he told me: 'Titles come and go, but your roots never leave you.'"

Tarry said he was born at Hillcrest Hospital, which is no longer there, but has been replaced by a senior living apartment building.

"My mom was a teacher, first at Cobre and then at Silver," Tarry said. "She was a fabulous teacher. I noticed that she was putting almost all the money she made back into the classroom. I asked her why she bothered working. She said: 'I'm investing in the future,' she taught special education, 'so these kids can see the opportunities that exist going forward.'"

"We, at PNM, have allocated funding of $250,000 to schools across our service area," Tarry said. "The problem right now is how to get kids back into the schools. We allocated the funding to teachers, so they have a pool of money to deal with. The teacher that impacted me the most in high school was Ms. Van Busker. She taught me and made me love numbers and accounting. Those are the types of teachers who made a difference. I went to New Mexico State University, mostly to get away from home, but not be too far away. A year later, I had the opportunity to do two-years of service for my mission in Columbia, South Carolina. I saw poverty there that I had never seen before. Education creates opportunities. PNM invests in education through our foundation to improve life for New Mexicans. We are excited by economic development. How can PNM create jobs to keep our young people at home? In Albuquerque, we work hard there, but it's about the opportunities all across the service area."

He then addressed the merger. "Part of the benefits of our merger with Avangrid is their economic development fund that will donate $15 million to our service territory. It will help create jobs and businesses. Bill credits of $67 million will be spread around our area for three years to benefit the consumers. One of the things we focus on is those with low income. $15 million will provide for low-income service and energy-efficiency grants."

Tarry emphasized that the merger would keep local people in place. "Local management in every community is a focus. I was involved in the merger, from the very beginning and one of the major keys to why Avangrid was chosen was their commitment to keeping local management. We are excited about that. We will stay focused on education and economic development in the areas we serve. With a quality education system and economic development, you will also have organic growth."

He said he has done a lot of camping in the area. "We will keep that environment safe."

Speaking of his 25 years with PNM, "I wish you knew how complex the grid is behind electricity that comes through when you flip the light switch. We will be continuing the acceleration on the renewable front and what we call electrification, like electric cars and a lot of different systems. Avangrid is focused on that. We're at the bottom of the Western grid. As coal units shut down and natural gas phases out, this merger positions New Mexico very well. The state is third in the potential for wind and third in potential for solar energy. The third element is ensuring reliability. We don't want to be California, Texas or Louisiana with their outages. Investing in the grid that ties it all together is key."

Tarry said the capital budget for PNM is $4 billion for 2021-24. "Having a strong parent, a strong balance sheet and economic base will allow us to do that in the most economically efficient way. We will receive that benefit. We're excited about the Avangrid merger. We're excited about what it can bring. I'm excited to be back here. I hope we're all excited about providing jobs and a better education to give our youth the opportunity to grow. And now I'll stand for questions."

Steve Chavira, former Chamber director and now executive director of the Grant County Workforce and Economic Development Alliance, noted that the business community is behind the merger. "What do you say to detractors?"

Tarry replied: "We will work with the same people here when we have merged with Avangrid. You'll have the same workforce from Albuquerque and in Silver City and in Deming. If you have followed Avangrid, you know they will leave the local management in place. They continue to maintain that. In addition, they will have a Southwest Center where they can invest. What they've always done in the past is they invest in the area. You'll see them bring jobs and renewable jobs. As you know, our rates are not set by Avangrid. They are not set by PNM. They are set by the (Public Regulations) Commission on a cost basis. That's the way they will continue to be set. Avangrid has a better credit rating than PNM, so that will go straight back to the customers. And they're a leader in renewables. Another thing they bring is a huge R and D (research and development). We couldn't invest in exploration of hydrogen and other renewables that will be important."

New Mexico District 28 Senator Siah Hemphill thanked Tarry for coming back and investing in education. "I look forward to working with you." [Editor's Note: She was not at the microphone, and someone's phone was ringing, so it was hard to hear.]

Tarry said it will take a collaboration working together to solve problems. "We're committed to New Mexico. We'll stay with the name PNM, which is Public Service Company of New Mexico."

Tom Vaughn asked why PNM sought a buyer. "That's the first question, and you mentioned that the company you will merge with is owned by another company. Could you follow that chain to where it ends?"

Tarry answered the second question first. "Avangrid is a publicly owned company, traded on the New York Stock Exchange. They are 81 percent owned by Iberdrola in Spain. It's the third largest electrical provider in the world with investments in many different places. They are focused on renewables. For your first question, we sought a buyer because we were looking to the future and as we are retiring the older units and looking to the future of energy. We could have done it, but it would have cost more to the customers. We would have been at the tail end of development. Having a partner with a bigger financial base and R and D seemed to be the best option. We'll get the benefit in New Mexico."

He concluded by saying: "I'll be back, and I'll be spending time in classrooms."

Ashburn thanked him and presented him with a copper coin that is provided by "our good friends at Freeport-McMoran." He mentioned what it said on the back, but external noise blocked the phrase.

With time left over, Chamber Board president Jeannie Mitchell asked Hemphill to speak. "I am a freshman state senator, preparing for the next session. Serving on the Senate Finance Committee and the Legislative Finance Committee gives me the opportunity to bring funding back to rural areas like ours. I appreciate PNM for focusing on healthcare, education and rural economic development."

Mitchell also asked Ladner to speak. "I'll speak to the state of Silver City. With the pandemic, we were afraid that the town would take a huge it, but actually our gross receipts taxes are among the highest we've had. But the downside is the small businesses are struggling. Please support them. And on another note, I'm running again for mayor. I have worked hard to integrate into the community. I ask for your vote."

Jack Brennan, Tour of the Gila bicycle race director, said sadly, they have had to cancel two Tours of the Gila, including one that would have taken place last weekend. "We're looking forward to next year's, which will be back in the usual timeframe, April 27-May 1."

Romeo Cruz, Chamber director, said he works with small businesses. "We want to get more members. We want to see local businesses grow. We would love to help you all we can. Steve (Chavira) and I work hand in hand to get funding to get you where you want to be."

Ashburn said that PNM's grants for Reduce Your Use have opened up. "They are designed for 501c3s to reduce their costs, particularly on electricity. Go to PNM.com, look for the dropdown menu Community and under that is grants. The funding is handed out in $5,000 blocks."

Chavira said: "Did you know you can get an employee for on-the-job training without your having any out-of-pocket costs? Contact me and I'll get you the information. My office is just down that hall," he pointed to the hall on the west side of the conference center.

The session concluded and people visited with friends and met new ones.

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