A widening chasm between what customers want and what Santa Fe’s electric utility delivers is bolstering a campaign to rejigger power production and distribution, possibly putting the city itself in charge.

The municipalization campaign, years in the making, comes as the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) leans on a long-term strategy that shortchanges renewables, includes shaky financial analysis, and diverges from what most ratepayers say they want.

Now, New Energy Economy -- the Santa Fe advocacy group spearheading the effort -- is vetting its options for toppling a monopoly criticized for its resistance to renewables and market-leading fees. Santa Fe could form a municipal utility on its own, or aggregate demand with communities nearby and form a utility alongside them. John Farrell, ILSR’s Energy Democracy Initiative Director, spoke with Mariel Nanasi, executive director of New Energy Economy, in August 2016.