PNM Resources Inc
PNM
Utilities
2
exclusion reasons
2 themes
This page is part of our public exclusion list — a transparency tool that shows which companies we screen out and why. It is not investment advice, and it is not an accusation. But it is subject to change as our understanding of the facts evolves.
PNM Resources operates the San Juan Generating Station, a coal-fired power plant that has been a persistent source of environmental contamination and regulatory conflict. The plant has been subject to multiple enforcement actions by the Environmental Protection Agency, including a 2011 ruling requiring the installation of selective catalytic reduction equipment to control nitrogen oxide pollution, which PNM subsequently appealed in federal court. The New Mexico Supreme Court in 2023 affirmed regulators' rejection of PNM's plan to charge customers to keep the "money-losing, climate-harming plant" open, highlighting the facility's ongoing environmental impact.
The company has also been linked to broader contamination concerns, as evidenced by community notifications via certified letters to residents living near its facilities. While PNM publishes environmental highlights emphasizing conservation, its operational history centers on a major coal plant with a documented record of pollution control violations and legal battles over the cost of mitigating its environmental damage.
PNM Resources, through its subsidiary Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM), operated the San Juan Generating Station, a coal-fired power plant that was its largest generation asset. In 2022, the company sought regulatory approval to sell its stake in the plant and recoup its investment through securitized bonds under New Mexico's Energy Transition Act. However, the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission denied the application, finding PNM had not provided sufficient evidence that replacement power resources were secured to maintain grid reliability after the plant's closure. PNM appealed to the state Supreme Court, which upheld the regulators' denial in July 2023. The court rejected PNM's argument, affirming that the law required evidence of actual replacement resources, not just a plan to acquire them. This regulatory failure blocked the company's proposed financial transition from the coal asset. PNM subsequently sold its 13% interest in the adjacent San Juan coal mine to the Navajo Transitional Energy Company.
Research Sources
1 organization
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Companies appear on our exclusion list based on our investment judgment — not because they've done anything illegal. This is a difference of values and opinion, not an accusation of wrongdoing. Exclusion does not constitute a recommendation against investing in any company, and absence from the list does not constitute a recommendation to invest.
This information is provided for educational and transparency purposes only and should not be relied upon as investment advice. Data is drawn from independent watchdogs, NGOs, government registries, and Ethical Capital's ongoing research — see Research Sources for the full list.
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