New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas is not a fan of a plan to keep an aging coal-fired plant going with a mix of coal, natural gas, nuclear and solar generation. The Daily Times in Farmington reported Saturday that Balderas says Public Service Co. of New Mexico's proposal regarding the San Juan Generating Station "isn't good enough." Balderas, who was a supporter in the past, said recently that the current proposal doesn't utilize enough renewable energy resources. Balderas says he wants to see a revised plan by August first Supporters say if the plan isn't approved by the Public Regulation Commission, the plant and the San Juan Mine could close. They say Balderas' comments are disappointing since the plan already offers solar power.
Meanwhile, Balderas has weighed-in on what he says are incorrect allegations about his own campaign finances made by the New Mexico Secretary of State’s office. Balderas says this shows there are flaws in the state's reporting process. The Albuquerque Journal reports that Balderas expressed concern that some candidates may be on the end of wrongful accusations made by Secretary of State Dianna Duran. The Albuquerque Journal reporting that Duran last week told Balderas that he submitted three late campaign finance reports a few years ago. But the Democrat said she was wrong about two of the reports. A spokesman for Duran says she had been relying on inaccurate information. The dispute is the latest wrinkle in a growing rift between the Democratic attorney general and the Republican secretary of state over enforcement of campaign finance reporting.
New Mexico's top economic devlopment official says the state's decision this year to pour millions of dollars into wooing businesses and spurring job creation isn't being taken lightly. Economic Development Secretary Jon Barela told a legislative panel last week that his office is crafting policies to ensure that the money is spent wisely and that the program is transparent. Barela says proving the state is getting a return from its investments under the Local Economic Development Act — or LEDA — will be key. The state aims to create at least 15-hundred jobs through the program in the next fiscal year. Republican Governor Susana Martinez and the Legislature approved 50 million dollars for LEDA projects during this year's regular and special legislative sessions. That's more than three times what was set aside for the program last year.
A major insurer on the New Mexico health exchange is not budging from a proposal to raise its premiums for some customers by more than 50 percent. The Albuquerque Journal reporting that Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Mexico filed a request for a nearly 52-percent increase with the state insurance office. The exchange offers plans by five different insurance companies. Three are asking to boost premiums between two-and 17 percent, depending on the plan. But CHRISTUS Health Plan, however, is not seeking any increase. Blue Cross Blue Shield president Kurt Shipley says the hike reflects the actual costs of coverage instead of the projections used when it first set rates. Insurance premiums are determined by several factors such as age, smoking habits and level of coverage.
Thousands of blackish-blue Western tent caterpillars have eaten the leaves of aspen trees in forests around Santa Fe. The New Mexican reports that Santa Fe National Forest entomologist Andrew Graves says the aspens aren't likely to die -- but their limbs will remain bare until later this summer. He says the caterpillars will likely disappear in the next few days, living in cocoons underneath leaves until they emerge as small, brown moths. Tent caterpillars are a normal part of the forest ecosystem. Graves says they periodically invade forests all over the West, although this is the first time he's seen them in the Big Tesuque area.Graves says the insects are food for birds, and their chewed up leaves and dead larvae enrich the forest soil.
Santa Fe Weather: Partly sunny today with the high reaching 84 with a 40-percent chance for scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly after noon. Tonight: Mostly cloudy with a continued chance for showers and thunderstorms, the overnight low, 59. Tomorrow: mostly sunny with the chance for showers and thunderstorms dropping to 20-percent and the high tomorrow, 86.