New Mexico’s Newest Wind Farm Raises Questions of Politics and Science

May 21, 2020

The green side is really excited about their newest New Mexico project.

Earlier this month, the New Mexico State Land Office put out a press release announcing the groundbreaking of the La Joya Wind Farm in Torrance County. The release included supporting statements from both of New Mexico’s Senators, the Governor and many others. However, a deeper look raises some interesting questions.

The footprint for the new 111-turbine windfarm is nearly 35,000 acres (or roughly the same size as the biggest state park in New Mexico) and will generate 306 megawatts (MW) of power. For comparison, the San Juan Generating Station sits on 13 acres of land, generates 847 MW of power (at half capacity) and employs thousands of New Mexicans.

Also, the San Juan Generating Station can produce power when the wind doesn’t blow.

Why would New Mexico’s elected officials be so excited about an unreliable power source that produces only 36 percent of the power while using over 2,500 times the land? Politics, of course.

Each New Mexico politician happens to receive their fair share of campaign donations from eco-left companies and it looks like those behind the La Joya Wind Farm are no different. The company awarded the contract for La Joya is Avangrid Renewables, a subsidiarity of a Spanish based company. Shockingly, it appears a company with a very similar name donated to the Governor in November 2019.

Before even discussing the raw materials needed to build the La Joya Wind Farm, we know it will unreliably provide about one-third of the power, using a massive amount of land and employ only a fraction of the New Mexicans compared to today’s power generation.

The other side may call you a science-denier, but it looks like it’s the eco-left who can’t add.