The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission on Dec. 19 approved the Public Service Co. of New Mexico’s integrated resource plan which calls for retirement of the utility’s remaining units at the San Juan Generating Station by 2022 and withdrawal from the Four Corners coal plant when the its contracts with that facility end in 2031.

To replace the retiring coal capacity, the plan includes solar and wind energy additions, along with the potential for energy storage capacity. The plan would retain the utility’s stake in the Palo Verde nuclear plant.

PNM said that the plan would result in its energy becoming more than 50 percent emission-free by 2023, and nearly 70 percent by 2032. The utility is required to update its long-term resource plan every three years detailing its resource needs to satisfy demand over a 20-year planning horizon. The proposal also includes a specific four-year action plan.

Electric utilities are increasingly incorporating intermittent and customer-controlled resources in their long-term resource plans driven by falling costs, state mandates, and changing energy mix.

Public Service Company of New Mexico is a subsidiary of PNM Resources Inc.