Las Vegas, N.M., residents, businesses grapple with PNM's public safety power shutoff

Yahoo

18-04-2025

LAS VEGAS, N.M. — The beam of a heavy-duty DeWalt flashlight swept across the shelves of the Big R store as Michael Velarde searched for a Sharpie marker to buy. Otherwise, the store was dark Thursday, even at 2:30 p.m.
Public Service Company of New Mexico had cut the power to the store as part of a public safety outage that affected some 2,300 of its customers in the western area of Las Vegas, N.M., as high winds began blowing through Northern New Mexico. Still, the store remained open and customers trickled in, met by employees wearing headlamps.
Initiated at 11:30 a.m., the PNM shutoff was necessary, the electric utility said, to reduce the risk of fire danger amid high winds.
Gusts caused other power outages around the state and drove a brushfire that had ignited Thursday afternoon on Bureau of Indian Affairs land west of Bosque Farms.
George Ducker of the New Mexico Forestry Division sent a news release Thursday evening about the fast-moving Rio Grande Fire, which had burned several structures and led to evacuations. The fire was estimated at about 150 acres but was growing in red-flag conditions.
'This is becoming the norm'
The Las Vegas outage marked PNM's first planned power shutoff in wildfire weather following previous warnings of outages in Santa Fe, the East Mountains near Albuquerque and other areas of the state during a dry spring with days of heavy gusts.
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Traffic waits a temporary stop sign at the intersection of Mills Avenue and Eighth Street in Las Vegas during a public safety power shutoff Thursday.
"It's in response to fire danger throughout the West … and the need to do our part to prevent these catastrophes," said Jeff Buell, a spokesperson for PNM, the largest electric utility in the state. "It is a last-resort step that we take after pretty agonizing deliberations."
He estimated power would be restored as early as 3 a.m. Friday.
But PNM said in a morning news release customers in the outage area should expect it "to last overnight and up to 48 hours depending on fire conditions and potential damage caused to the system by high winds."
The shutoff comes as some electric utilities in Western states, such as California, have at times resorted to enacting blackouts in times when fire risk is high. New Mexico is another state that has seen devastating and costly wildfires in recent years.
The decision to shut off the power is one that promises to draw the ire of residents concerned about food in refrigerators souring, among other things, while waiting for service to be restored.
But Las Vegas residents perhaps have a unique understanding of fire risk. The Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon Fire, the worst blaze in New Mexico's recorded history, started in 2022 due to a pair of botched federal prescribed burns, leaving thousands of people displaced while destroying hundreds of homes.
"I've never heard of that before in my entire life, but I understand their concern," Velarde said of PNM's power shutdown. "They don't want the city to catch fire again."
The National Weather Service in Albuquerque had warned of extreme fire conditions Thursday due to a combination of prolonged and increasing drought across the state, high temperatures and heavy wind gusts — part of a pattern of extreme conditions as global climate change intensifies.
Drought map
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, more than 98% of New Mexico is now in some level of drought, with the severity of conditions inching upward. Over 80% of the state is in at least severe drought and a third in extreme drought, including northern Santa Fe County, half of Rio Arriba County and swaths of Taos and Sandoval counties, as well as a large area of southwestern New Mexico.
Las Vegas Mayor David Romero noted this is becoming a reality in parts of the Southwest where wildfire concerns run high. It's something the city needs to prepare for, he said.
"In general, I think this is something, moving forward, the city and also the community are going to have to be prepared for things like this," Romero said. "Nationwide and here within the state, this is becoming the norm within power companies to prevent fires and fires in general."
Windy day in Las Vegas
Heavy gusts were whipping around signposts as people walked through a business district of the San Miguel County town with their heads lowered. With dust in the air impacting visibility outside of town, Romero said Thursday marked a very strong wind event.
"Of course, it's an inconvenience. That's for sure," Romero said. "But you have to understand: Some of these measures that they're taking, they're precautionary, and we did experience the fires."
Velarde said he felt the utility's decision to shut off power was something of a double-edged sword for residents and businesses in Las Vegas.
"They are taking precautionary measures," he said. "But what about the people that are going to lose all their food? That's a travesty, especially if you are low-income."
At the corner of Mills and Eighth streets, traffic lights were dark as drivers approached with uncertainty. Nearby, the doors of a Dollar General were closed; a handmade sign gave the reason: Power outage. "Sorry for the inconvenience; have a wonderful day," the sign said.
Dollar General
A Dollar General Store in Las Vegas, N.M., was closed Thursday due to a public safety power shutoff initiated by Public Service Company of New Mexico to reduce the threat of wildfire amid high winds.
Along with business closures, the power shutdown prompted Luna Community College to close for the afternoon, Facilities Director Matthew Griego said.
"We don't have the infrastructure in place for the backup [power] right now," he said.
However, New Mexico Highlands University and the local public schools appeared to continue operating throughout the day.
"It's business as usual until we hear something from PNM," Highlands spokesperson David Lepre said.
The state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said in a statement it was prepared to respond to any requests for help from Las Vegas.
"We have helped the local emergency manager identify critical infrastructure that might be impacted and a shelter location in case that becomes a need. We're in constant communication with the local officials and PNM to monitor the situation," the statement said.
When will power return?
PNM's outage map showed about 1,000 customers in the Belen area, south of Albuquerque, had no service due to power line issues. Other equipment issues left about 1,300 people without power in a southeastern portion of Albuquerque.
The Las Vegas shutoff would remain in place "until the extreme weather conditions have passed, and the risk of a wildfire has been reduced," the utility said in a news release Thursday morning. "Current forecasts predict that the weather event will subside by 8 p.m."
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Jason Lassell, manager of the Big R store in Las Vegas, fills a generator with gasoline during a planned power outage Thursday.
Buell said around 5:30 p.m. PNM crews were "standing by," meaning groups of workers were waiting for wildfire conditions to subside before patrolling the power lines and inspecting every inch of the deenergized system to ensure there were no tree limbs that had fallen or "any material caught in the lines or any damage to the lines."
"This process will probably take several hours," Buell said. "It's a lengthy process, particularly because it will be mostly during the dark."
PNM noted it has "20 miles of lines and more than 800 poles and equipment that must be patrolled, mostly on foot, and possibly repaired" in the Las Vegas area. "This could take an extended amount of time, and PNM is urging customers to prepare to be without power overnight."
Staff writers Nicholas Gilmore and Esteban Candelaria contributed to this report