Along with 11 other dedicated New Mexican advocacy groups, I am working on the biggest and most important energy deal for ratepayers and all communities — a proposed merger of PNM and renewable energy company Avangrid.

It is no secret that there are inequities in the clean energy movement. You have been given misinformation by a Santa Fe group that is trying to kill the deal. When the application to purchase PNM was filed, I did what I do with every big corporation’s first offer — I strongly opposed it because it was not good enough. When I sue a company like Monsanto or Wells Fargo, I direct an experienced legal team to make sure New Mexicans are in the strongest position to get the most out of the fight. And after months of intense negotiation, the merger deal has dramatically improved for a stronger utility sector that can actually grow to meet the needs of all our people.

Here, that means more than $100 million to New Mexico, $75 million in new high-paying jobs, and over $12 million to benefit Indigenous communities and $15 million to help low-income consumers improve their energy efficiency. Indigenous communities and those who face systematic disadvantages in energy costs and limited access to renewable energy benefits, and minority- and women-owned vendor opportunities also are prioritized in this deal.

The Santa Fe special interest group opposing the transition took to accusing me of corruption because its principal is so insistent on getting her way. In the face of overwhelming support for the transaction, she has filed a frivolous complaint. This is the same individual who ostracized herself during the passage of the state’s landmark clean energy legislation, the Energy Transition Act. Again, it was because she did not get her way.

Let me be clear — this deal will bring hundreds of millions of dollars to New Mexico and actually replace

our existing utility with a clean, well-capitalized company, and has centered the needs of Indigenous and poor communities. I make no apologies to a single interest group for ensuring these communities have a real voice in this deal and that New Mexico will finally be positioned for a real, tangible win in our state.

Despite this untruthful complaint, I can assure you I will continue to fight for ratepayers while trying to help improve the human condition in all of New Mexico. While the Attorney General’s Office receives limited financial support from the state Legislature for litigation, we have found innovative legal ways to create a fierce civil and criminal prosecution program that can take on Fortune 500 companies, protect our precious water and actually prosecute real-world corruption.

During my administration, we have brought in nearly $75 million in new dollars to the state by fighting against corporations that seek to harm our state and won numerous jury verdicts in corruption cases that were rarely litigated in the past. Whether it is Big Pharma, Big Tech, the tobacco industry or the United States government, you know who actually investigates, litigates and negotiates in the public interest. This deal is no different.