By Julia Goldberg | Editor-in-Chief
Good morning, folks. Happy Friday and happy holiday weekend. We have several new stories for you below, including a report on the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission’s Thursday vote to require the controversial stock sale associated with the PNM/Blackstone acquisition be undone. You’ll find even more to read today at sourcenm.com. Your weekly round-up will arrive as usual on Saturday or, if you’re not signed up for our weekend newsletter, you can do that here. Either way, we will see you Monday. Here’s to a fun, non-flammable weekend!
Protesters gathered outside the Roundhouse in Santa Fe on Thursday ahead of a New Mexico Public Regulation Commission vote related to the proposed PNM-Blackstone merger. (Photo by Joshua Bowling/Source NM)
New Mexico utility regulators rule PNM, private equity firm must undo controversial $400M stock sale
New Mexico utility regulators on Thursday voted 2-1 that PNM and Blackstone Infrastructure, the state’s largest electricity provider and the private equity firm seeking to acquire it, must undo a controversial $400 million stock sale. That vote does not impact the overall pending merger, Source senior reporter Joshua Bowling reports.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez sent a letter this week requesting a wide range of materials from federal law enforcement agencies that could shed light on federal agents’ practice of allowing shipments of fentanyl into New Mexico. (Photo by Danielle Prokop/Source NM)
NMDOJ seeks records related to federal drug agents’ fentanyl investigations in NM
Source’s Patrick Lohmann reports the New Mexico Department of Justice on Thursday announced it was demanding a wide array of records related to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s fentanyl investigations in New Mexico between 2022 and 2025. That's the time period during which allegations have been made agents allowed large quantities of the drug to enter communities.
Last year, the town of Estancia, N.M., asked residents to conserve water because its wells were not producing adequately. (Photo courtesy the town of Estancia via Inside Climate News)
Town of Estancia, detention center face water shortage
Inside Climate News reports the wells in the small New Mexico town of Estancia are running dry. After declaring a water emergency last week, the small town in Torrance County is hauling in water to fill its pipes and has also reduced water sales to the Torrance County Detention Facility, a federal facility with a history of complaints about sewage and other problems on which Source NM has reported.
Rather than advertising movie showings, the El Raton theater in Raton, New Mexico, recently displayed the message, “No AI data center” on its marquee sign. (Photo courtesy of Pat Walsh)
New Mexico lawmakers announce proposed statewide moratorium on data centers
Several Democratic state lawmakers on Thursday announced they intend to introduce legislation in next year’s legislative session to create a statewide moratorium on “large-scale” data centers. The bill would “prohibit new large-scale data center projects” while the state developed a “framework” for evaluating such developments’ impacts on water, energy, emissions, ratepayers and more, according to a news release.
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We're reading Gizmodo’s rankings for states’ contributions to the nation’s 250th anniversary time capsule (New Mexico came in 2nd!)
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