El Paso Electric on the path to carbon-free energy goals, report says

El Paso Electric said it is moving toward a carbon-free future in its Corporate Sustainability Report for 2022.

The report, released on April 26, is the company’s fourth sustainability report and focuses on its commitment to transparency and ESG improvement, the company said.

The company’s accomplishments included the delivery in 2023 of 120 MW of solar energy and 50 MW of battery storage, full regulatory approval of an advanced metering program for implementation this year, and an 11 percent reduction in the company’s carbon footprint.

According to the report, 47 percent of El Paso Energy’s net generation is provided by carbon-free generation, including solar and nuclear.

The company aims to be 80 percent carbon-free by 2035 and 100 percent carbon-free by 2045. As part of achieving those goals, the company said it will be replacing aging generating units with state-of-the-art, hydrogen-ready gas turbines this year, as well as expanding its solar generation with an additional 700 MW of solar energy from 10 new units by 2025. The company also plans to offer up to $1.7 million in incentives for its customers to switch to electric vehicles. The company said it has replaced 7 percent of its light-duty vehicles with EVs and anticipates replacing 100 percent in the future.

Since 1901, El Paso Energy has provided electricity to the region and now provides energy to nearly half a million retail and wholesale customers across southern New Mexico and west Texas, including the cities of El Paso, Texas, and Las Cruces, New Mexico.