Nope, that’s not the one I am talking about.  According to the meetings I went to in September at The Re-Energize New Mexico Conference at New Mexico State University.  The plant west of Las Cruces will be Duke Energy and NMSU.  Nothing has happened that I know of yet.  But I haven’t been out there since December when the in-laws were in town and wanted to go out and see where it is to be built. 

Also at the meetings, BP Solar of San Francisco, CA and EnergyNovo of Elephant Butte, NM announced plans to build a $130 million, 22-megawatt photovoltaic solar plant near Elephant Butte.  Officials say the 160-acre site will be BP Solar's first New Mexico plant.  They say the plant could be in operation by late 2010, employing 50 to 100 people.  I don’t know of anything happing up there yet, but I haven’t been up there in a while.

The only ones that are making any progress according to last weeks news paper article.  Public Service Company of New Mexico has signed a contract with an Arizona company to build five utility-scale solar power plants in New Mexico.  Tempe-based First Solar would build the plants at five sites in PNM's service territory.  The plants would produce 22 megawatts of new solar capacity.  PNM says that's enough to supply 7,000 homes.  PNM president and CEO Pat Vincent-Collawn says construction on the first site could start as soon as 2011.  The sites will be chosen based on cost, availability, their solar potential, the level of local support and other factors.  The contract would be the first project under an agreement reached between PNM and environmental and energy groups earlier this month pending approval by the state Public Regulation Commission.