Senator proposes felony sanctions for copper thieves who damage utility plants

As the number of copper thefts increase -- often to fund drug addictions -- so could the penalties.

Sen. Steve Neville, R-Aztec, wants wants to send a message to thieves and vandals who steal copper from or damage energy production facilities.

He’s sponsoring a Senate Bill 240, which could make ripping off $50 worth of the metal a felony with a large fine or even imprisonment.

A vandal who rips off a $50 dollar piece of copper from a gas well to sell it as scrap metal, potentially causing an explosion and costing thousands of dollars in lost production time would only be slapped with a misdemeanor. But, Neville says the real cost of the crimes need to be taken into account before a suspect is charged.

“The law should take into consider the true costs of the crime to utility plants, not the value of a piece of metal.”

Last October Albuquerque police cracked down on copper thieves after they targeted recycling centers to find out who was committing the crimes. Police said then they recognized the steep increase in thefts.

The main purpose of APD's tactical plan was to educate recycling centers about a 2009 state law which mandates recyclers set aside items for five days and document who sold it to them. Many recyclers had not been reporting the names of people selling the metal.

Sen. Steven P. Neville
In this morning's news release Neville said the ramifications of power plant strikes are deep.

“Ripping off what is essentially to them scrap metal could cost thousands of dollars worth of damage and could even cause an explosion, shutting down production for days.” Neville said.

His bill would make it a felony crime to intentionally and without authorization vandalize, destroy or remove from an energy production facility any property of value, including tools, scrap metal, parts and petroleum products.

An energy production facility could be a power plant, storage or transmission facility or even oil rigs, regardless of whether such facility is still under construction or is otherwise not functioning."

If approved the bill would make it a fourth degree felony for property damage of $2,500 or less, a third degree felony if the value of property vandalized, destroyed or stolen over a six-month period has a value of over $2,500, but not more than $20,000, and a second degree felony if the value of property vandalized, destroyed or stolen over a six-month period has a value of over $20,000.

PNM offers New Mexico non-profits energy grants

New Mexico non-profits, who want to become more energy efficient, could soon be getting some help -- in the form of grants -- from PNM.

The nonprofit PNM Fund, a division of the PNM Resources Foundation, announced today that it will award $250,000 in Reduce Your Use Grants to nonprofits in its service territory to implement energy-saving measures that lower their electric bills and help the environment.

“With the demand for services supplied by so many nonprofits rising, and budgets tightening, the Reduce Your Use Grant represents a unique opportunity for a nonprofit to focus more of its money on what really matters: fulfilling its core mission,” said Diane Harrison Ogawa, executive director of the PNM Resources Foundation.

In prior years, funded projects included the replacement of inefficient appliances with Energy Star®-rated appliances, replacement of single-pane windows with double-pane windows, upgrades and updates to lighting systems, and installation of solar photovoltaic panels.

The PNM Fund, a division of the PNM Resources Foundation, has invested over $7 million to fund nonprofit projects that meet community needs. More than $780,000 is distributed annually through PNM Reduce Your Use Grants, PNM Classroom Innovation Grants, Matching Grants, Volunteer Grants and Volunteer Excellence Awards.

Applications must be submitted online by April 15. Recipients will be announced in May.

Nuclear power gets a boost from Obama

There hasn't been a nuclear power plan built in the country since the Three Mile Island meltdown in the 1970's, but today, in Maryland, the industry will get a boost from President Barack Obama.

While many in his party might not like it, Obama will announce a Federal loan guarantee today for two reactors which will be constructed by Georgia Power, a division of the Southern Company in Burke County, Georgia -- and that means a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants.

On the campaign trail, Obama hedged on nuclear power, but said it should be "in the mix" and raised questions about its safety.

Last month, Obama appointed U.S. Sen Pete Domenici to his "blue ribbon" commission to study America's nuclear future.

At the time, Domenici said nuclear energy "has to be a key component of a new American energy policy that moves toward renewable, non-carbon emitting energy sources."

In June 2008, we talked to James Conca, the director of the Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring and Research Center and Institute of Energy and the Environment, which is operated by NMSU, about energy alternative that will likely be needed by the middle of the century.

Conca has co-authored The Geopolitics of Energy: Achieving a Just and Sustainable Energy Distribution by 2040 with Judith Wright.

Conca and Wright suggest if alternatives are not brought online quickly, fossil fuel use will also increase and more than double Carbon Dioxide emissions with all it's unwanted health and enviromental side effects.

They say the solutions must be in place by 2010 to be effectively serving the world's expanding population in the next thirty years.

The book suggests by 2040 the world must have:

• 3 Million Wind Turbines
• Solar Arrays totaling 3 trillion kWhrs/year
• 1,700 new nuclear reactors
• Biofuels from algae, cellulosics and high-efficiency biomass
• 3 trillion kWhrs/year from other alternatives including wave, tidal and bio gas.

The authors say the increasing efficiency and return from nuclear energy, the small footprint, the lack of Carbon Dioxide emission, the small amount of waste generated and the the ease of handling, has led to a resurgence of nuclear power worldwide.

Today appears to be a good start toward meeting those goals. In fact, just one plant, in Southern New Mexico could replace 52% of coal powered energy.