Las Cruces Natural Gas Transition Plan

City of Las Cruces asks residents to help shape the future of energy

The City of Las Cruces Utilities Department received important input from its customers during a recent workshop on the City’s Natural Gas Transition Plan (NGTP). The plan will help Utilities meet the goals established by the City’s Climate Action Plan (CAP), which was adopted by the Las Cruces City Council in 2020. The CAP includes a 2018 inventory showing most greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Las Cruces come from automobiles, and also from commercial and industrial buildings in the City, local residences and solid waste.

Utilities has also held public events about the NGTP plan at Big Daddy’s Flea Market, Munson Senior Center, Save Mart, the Las Cruces Farmers and Crafts Market, and an open house at City Hall to provide information. There are more opportunities coming up to ask questions and express your thoughts about NGTP, as we learn more about what types of energy could work best for Las Cruces, the impact of those energy sources on utility bills and ways to lower carbon emissions from natural gas in your home and citywide.

Visit LasCruces.gov/NaturalGas to sign up for notifications about upcoming NGTP events and a survey about the project you will soon be able to take online and other updates. If you scroll down to the bottom of that page, you can enter your comments about NGTP and request additional information.

“We want to hear from you,” said Hector Terrazas, P.E., Utilities Deputy Director for Natural Gas and Energy, who is coordinating NGTP development and public outreach. “We want to make sure we get everyone’s input,” he said, so the City’s energy plan is one that “people working and living here and paying gas bills are happy with.”

The CAP goals call for greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions of 19% or greater by 2030 and 73% or greater by 2050 (using 2018 as a baseline), said Terrazas, a Professional Engineer who grew up in Anthony, New Mexico and is a New Mexico State University graduate. He has been with the City since 2011 and became a Deputy Director last December.

Natural gas is primarily formed from the decomposition of plankton, algae and other ancient marine microorganisms. This organic matter, mixed with sediment and buried under tons of heat and pressure deep within the Earth for millions of years, is transformed into a hydrocarbon gas mixture, primarily methane, that we call natural gas.

Great Britain began the commercialization of natural gas in 1785. The first natural gas well in the United States was drilled in 1821 in New York, and the first natural gas company in the U.S. began production in 1858. The first commercial natural gas well in New Mexico was drilled in San Juan County in 1921. Natural gas production in the southern part of the state began in 1924 with drilling in the Permian Basin — one of the world’s largest oil-producing areas — that includes parts of Chaves, Eddy and Lea counties in southeast New Mexico.

Science-based studies have shown global warming leads to more extreme weather events like severe flooding, and the record-setting heatwaves we have experienced in the Southwest. That’s why the City has targeted greenhouse gas reductions in its energy plan, and why it is transitioning its ROADRUNNER transit fleet to electric buses, adding electric vehicles to the rest of its fleet and making City-owned buildings more energy efficient. It’s also why Utilities wants the input of local stakeholders in determining the best way to reach CAP goals for the entire City.

A 2018 citywide inventory showed most (53%) of GHG emissions in Las Cruces come from automobiles, Terrazas said. Nearly one-quarter of the total is produced in commercial and industrial buildings in Las Cruces, 17% is produced in residences and 7% comes from solid waste.

The City has hired Energy + Environmental Economics (E3), an international energy consulting firm, to evaluate these emissions and recommend technologies to further reduce the environmental impact of the City’s current natural gas use.

Public input is a vital part of achieving the goal of reducing the City’s carbon footprint, Terrazas said.

Utilities wants to hear from a wide variety of stakeholders about the NGTP project, including City residents who use natural gas for heating, cooking and hot water, and the owners and operators of local restaurants, grocery stores and residential and commercial construction companies and other businesses both large and small that use natural gas for a wide range of commercial and industrial purposes.

The goal is to build an energy plan that allows the City to meet its climate targets in a way that is sustainable and affordable for its customers, Terrazas said.

As plan development moves forward, its impact on Utilities customers’ monthly gas bills is of particular concern, Terrazas said, including those paid by single parents, retirees on fixed incomes, young couples moving to Las Cruces and others. That’s why Utilities hosts community events to gather public input about the NGTP project from a wide range of residential customers, Terrazas said, including members of the general population, low-income customers and City residents who speak Spanish as their primary language.

Visit LasCruces.gov/NaturalGas and click on “City of Las Cruces Climate Action Plan in 2020” for more information about the CAP and about greenhouse gas emissions in Las Cruces, climate change, urban heat islands and much more.