About RETA
The New Mexico Renewable Energy Transmission Authority is a “public body, separate and apart from the state, constituting a governmental instrumentality for the performance of essential public functions.”
New Mexico experiences an average of 278 days of sunshine annually. In some areas of the state, wind speeds reach up to 50 miles per hour. This means that the state’s renewable generation potential is enormous. The amount of energy that could be generated significantly surpasses the needs within New Mexico but, unfortunately, there are not enough existing transmission lines to move this energy to locations where it can be used.
Responding to this dilemma in 2007, the New Mexico State Legislature passed and Gov. Bill Richardson signed the Renewable Energy Transmission Authority (RETA) Act. This Act created RETA as an organization to plan, license, finance, develop and acquire high-voltage transmission lines and storage projects to help diversify New Mexico’s economy through the development of renewable energy resources.
RETA is one of the first independent state authorities in the nation to clearly focus on the problem of how to transport renewable energy from remote areas that have enormous renewable energy potential to in-state and out-of-state customers.