New Mexico regulators approve plan to keep coal plant open

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico regulators have approved a plan by the state’s largest electric utility to keep open part of a coal-fired power plant for an extra three months as a way to avoid blackouts this summer. The Public Regulation Commission made its decision Wednesday, less than a week after Public Service Co. of New Mexico submitted its proposal. The utility will keep one unit at the San Juan Generating Station running through September, rather than closing it this summer as planned. Developers have blamed supply chain problems and the pandemic for delays in the construction of the solar farms and battery storage stations that were supposed to replace the coal plant.