PNM's first-ever Public Safety Power Shutdown, which affected about 10,000 customers residing in the East Mountains, has been canceled. The unprecedented move was precipitated by a severe wind and weather threat forecast by the National Weather Service today. The NWS issued red flag warnings for the East Mountains, Santa Fe and Las Vegas yesterday that run through tonight at 7.
PNM announced the decision to turn off power in the East Mountains in a morning press conference where officials said they considered similar moves for the Santa Fe and Las Vegas areas, but decided conditions had changed enough to avoid the maneuver. However, PNM’s Mike Mertz explained during the press conference that if power does go off during the weather event, it is likely to stay off longer than normal. Mertz explained how PNM moved forward with enhanced settings that will make the system more sensitive.
“We will disable the system from automatically trying to re-energize power if something like a tree or if debris were blown into the power line,” Mertz said. “If (the line) de-enerergizes, it will remain de-energized until we can inspect the line and ensure that we are not in a situation that could create a fire risk. So with that, while we do not expect to implement a proactive public safety power shut off, we can expect the potential for outages related to the storm that could be longer in duration and be more widespread than we might normally expect.”
The initial shutdown was scheduled for noon Thursday, but the measure was canceled a couple of hours later. Enhanced settings, however, remain in place according to PNM's latest update. The public utility urged county residents to prepare for the possibility of extended unplanned power outages.
"Preparedness is the most important thing that residents can do for any emergency," Santa Fe County Emergency Management Director Brad Call said in Thursday's release.
The NWS forecasts strong to severe winds throughout northern and central New Mexico today, followed by a strengthening low pressure system approaching the state late Friday that is expected to cross into Saturday morning. Rain and snow is expected for northern and central New Mexico with light to moderate snow accumulations occurring over the western mountains before focusing over the northern mountains, northeast highlands, and northeastern plains of the state. Snow accumulations will generally range from 2 to 6 inches in those areas with amounts reaching 6 to 10 inches above 9,000 feet. This will lead to wintry travel with snow-packed high elevation roads and periods of reduced visibility. This will include Interstate 25 north of Santa Fe and patches of Interstate 40. The NWS predicts lesser accumulations for northern and central New Mexico, perhaps “a dusting to a couple of inches.”
The weather threat moved Santa Fe Public Schools to implement virtual classes early Thursday morning.
