New Mexico Gets $20M Investment in Clean Energy Jobs

Rosendo Najar has noticed something frustrating at construction sites across New Mexico. The license plates on work trucks too often read Arizona or Texas, meaning jobs that could go to trained New Mexicans are going to workers from other states.

That's about to change with a $20 million pledge to expand apprenticeship and training programs for New Mexico's skilled trades workers. The investment comes from utility company PNM and Blackstone, which is seeking approval to purchase PNM.

The timing couldn't be better. New Mexico's Energy Transition Act requires 100% carbon-free energy, and meeting that goal means spending up to $10 billion over the next decade on renewable energy projects. That's a lot of jobs, and union leaders want to make sure New Mexicans are ready to fill them.

More than a hundred skilled union workers gathered Wednesday at ACE Leadership High School in Albuquerque to celebrate the announcement. The school already teaches students skilled trades, and graduates move directly into apprenticeship programs.

Najar leads the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters Local 1319 and rallied alongside laborers from LiUNA Local 16 and plumbers and pipefitters from UA Local 412. These unions have been building training programs for years, and the new funding will help them reach more workers.

Students at ACE Leadership are getting a head start on careers in the renewable energy sector. They practice concrete pouring and work with blowtorches, learning real skills from professionals who know the trades inside and out.

The Ripple Effect

The investment does more than create jobs. It keeps money circulating in New Mexico communities when local workers earn good wages and spend them close to home. It gives young people like 17-year-old Carlos Armijo a clear path from high school to a career without crushing student debt.

When renewable energy projects hire local workers, the benefits multiply. Families build financial security, neighborhoods strengthen, and the state grows a workforce ready for the clean energy economy taking shape across the Southwest.

The Blackstone investment is contingent on approval of its PNM purchase by the state's Public Regulation Commission. But the commitment shows how the shift to renewable energy can create opportunity, not just environmental benefits.

New Mexico is building a future where clean energy jobs go to the people who call the state home.