zine of Arts, Enter
an’s Weekly Maga
The New Mexic
re
tainment & Cultu
September 27,
2013
Worlds in between: Nevada Wier’s infrared photos
Locally owned and independent
Friday, September 27, 2013
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SAN JUAN GENERATING STATION
Always on the move St. Michael’s senior Isaiah Dominguez, a multisport standout, looks to go full throttle for the Horsemen. SportS, B-1
CoSt of CuttING CoAL
Tarantula hike Cerrillos Hills State Parks will offer visitors the chance to see doughnut-sized arachnids during hike this weekend. LoCAL NewS, C-1
ANALYSIS
GOP takes health law grievances to the brink
Skandera on record
Looking to block Obamacare, House Republicans reject plan to prevent government shutdown
State’s education secretarydesignate, Hanna Skandera, talks criticism, school reform and placing students above politics.
By Dan Balz
The Washington Post
GeN Next, C-8
Public Service Company of New Mexico wants to replace some of the coal power produced at the San Juan Generating Station in the Four Corners area with solar, natural gas and nuclear power. But the switch is likely to cost PNM customers. NEW MEXICAN FILE PHOTO
today Partly sunny with a shower. High 72, low 37. pAGe A-8
obituaries Margie Chavez, 41, Santa Fe, Sept. 20 Iona May Gamertsfelder, 84, Las Vegas, N.M., Sept. 18 Flossie Ortiz, 87, Pojoaque, Sept. 22 Ernie A. Rivera, 57, Santa Fe, Sept. 25 Judy Lynn Rowe, 89, Santa Fe, Sept. 23 pAGe C-2
PNM customers likely to pay more for electricity under plan to increase solar, natural gas and nuclear power By Staci Matlock The New Mexican
N
ew Mexico’s largest power utility wants to replace some of the coal-fired electricity from the San Juan Generating Station with solar, natural gas and nuclear power. Public Service Company of New Mexico says the mix of energy sources it is proposing will provide the most reliable power at the cheapest price to customers. Still, under the company’s proposal, PNM’s half-million customers are likely to pay more for electricity. The actual cost will be decided next summer, when the state Public Regulation Commission considers the company’s power-replacement proposal for San Juan as part of a larger “Integrated Resource Plan.” The plan determines how much electricity PNM customers will get from coal, gas, nuclear and renewable sources for the next 20 years.
Reducing coal power PNM had to do something to clean up regional haze blamed on emissions from its four-unit, coal-fired San Juan Generating Station in northwestern New Mexico,
or face penalties from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. After debating options for simply cleaning up the four units and continuing to use them, Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration crafted an alternative that took a middle ground. Under the alternative, PNM will shut down two of the San Juan units by the end of 2017 and replace the 340 megawatts of electricity with power from other sources. The company then will install new systems to clean nitrogen oxides and other haze-producing chemicals from its remaining two units. The move will reduce many of the polluting emissions from the plant enough to meet EPA standards and significantly reduce carbon-dioxide emissions, a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. PNM used a software modeling program to find the mix of resources that will provide reliable power at peak power use times and at the most reasonable cost to consumers, according to Patrick O’Connell, PNM’s planning and resources director. The program considers price, availability, reliability and a multitude of other factors and spits out about 1,000 scenarios. Prices per kilowatthour for wind and solar were based on bids the company received in the last year for renewable energy projects, O’Connell said. In this case, the software modeled a mixture of solar, natural gas and nuclear power as the most reliable for the least cost.
Please see CoAL, Page A-4
WASHINGTON — Congressional Republicans have become a party of grievances in search of a strategy. Their first grievance is with President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, the single most unifying issue for a party that has been showing signs of divisions all year. Rank-and-file Republicans, especially those who are aligned with the tea party, hate the new health care law. Their anger has welled up to force GOP leaders to respond with ever-riskier strategies to delay, defund or in some other way disrupt the imminent implementation of the act. Their second is with Obama himself, and his steadfast resistance to negotiate with them on any aspect of the health care law. The president may unilaterally decide to delay this or that aspect of the law, as he did again Thursday with a small portion of the implemen-
Please see BrINK, Page A-5
INSIDe u Director of Los Alamos National Laboratory says lab has funds to continue amid shutdown. pAGe A-5
Ashraf Nassar Heavenly Boutique owner was arrested Thursday by federal and local law-enforcement agents on a federal indictment charging him with dealing oxycodone.
DEA arrests shop owner in drug raid Several others also jailed in latest incident involving 30-year-old By Chris Quintana The New Mexican
While shopkeepers gossiped and gawked on Thursday morning and tourists milled nearby, Drug Enforcement Administration officials raided a women’s clothing store west of the Santa Fe Plaza. Federal and local law-enforcement agents shut down Heavenly Boutique, 203 W. San Francisco St., and arrested its owner, Ashraf Nassar, 30, on a federal indictment charging him with dealing oxycodone. Also arrested Thursday on the same indictment were Phillip Anaya, 37, Krystal Holmes, 27, Sarah N. Romero, 34, and Daniel Trujillo, 31, all of Santa Fe, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Albuquerque said in a news release. The 16-charge federal indictment is the latest incident involving law enforcement and Nassar. He was arrested in February on charges of drug possession and distribution after police raided his Santa Fe home and found 32 pounds of marijuana. A February arrest
‘Breaking Bad’ ends run looking ‘beautiful, bold’ Cinematographer credited with giving made-in-N.M. show its ‘fearless’ look By Frazier Moore
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — The supply is running low, and you know there won’t be more. Breaking Bad stands to leave its fans reeling. For five seasons of wickedness, this AMC drama has set viewers face to face with the repellant but irresistible Walter White and
Index
Calendar A-2
Classifieds D-1
the dark world he embraced as he spiraled into evil. With the end imminent (at 7 p.m. Sunday MDT), who can say what fate awaits this teacher-turned-drug-lord for the havoc he has wreaked on everyone around him. This is more than the end of a TV series. It’s a cultural moment, arriving as the show has logged record ratings, bagged a bestdrama Emmy and even scored this week’s cover of The New Yorker magazine. Up through the penultimate episode, Breaking Bad has been as potent and pure as the “blue sky” crystal meth Walter cooked with such skill. Judging from that consistency
Comics B-6
Lotteries A-2
Opinions A-7
INSIDe u From chemistry errors to flawed Spanish accents, nine things Breaking Bad got wrong during its five seasons. pAGe A-4
in storytelling and in performances by such stars as Bryan Cranston (Walter White), Aaron Paul (his sidekick Jesse Pinkman), Anna Gunn (who just won an Emmy as Walt’s wife) and Betsy Brandt, the end will likely pack unforgiving potency.
Police notes C-2
Interim editor: Bruce Krasnow, 986-3034, bkrasnow@sfnewmexican.com Design and headlines: Carlos A. López, clopez@sfnewmexican.com
Please see BreAKING, Page A-4
Sports B-1
Time Out C-5
Generation Next C-8
Main office: 983-3303 Late paper: 986-3010
Please see rAID, Page A-4
Four sections, 28 pages Pasatiempo, 76 pages 164th year, No. 270 Publication No. 596-440