With the commissioning of the 20 megawatt Roadrunner Solar Generating Facility farm in Santa Teresa, N.M., El Paso Electric Co. (NYSE: EE), based in El Paso, Texas, is boosting the amount of solar power reaching Western Texans and New Mexicans. Between that and a 5-megawatt concentrating photovoltaic plant (the largest such in the U.S. at this time), the regulated utility is able to meet its solar requirements for years to come.

“They’re not our solar facilities. We’re purchasing power from them,” said El Paso Electric spokesperson Teresa Souza.

It’s purchasing the power produced at the sites through power-purchase agreements.

The Roadrunner site, which uses First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) modules, is under a 20-year, power-purchase agreement with system owner NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG). The other installation, the 5-megawatt concentrating photovoltaic array in Hatch, N.M., is owned by NextEra Energy Resources. The utility is under a 25-year power purchase agreement to buy the power produced by the Amonix Inc. arrays at the site.

The company made the agreements to meet requirements and exceed them—for now at least—in New Mexico. Under the state’s renewable portfolio standard, investor-owned utilities must source 20 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2020, and 4 percent must come from solar. However, under the law, by the end of 2011, utilities must source 10 percent of their power from renewables, and by 2015 that percentage rises to 15 percent.

“We’re pretty full as far as solar [now],” said Ricardo Acosta, director of resource and delivery planning at El Paso Electric.

He said the utility has sourced about 10 percent of its generation from renewables at this point. And that these solar resources should keep it within its requirements through 2015.

In all, the company services about 91,000 customers in New Mexico and 285,000 in Western Texas, Souza said. However, Texas doesn’t currently have any requirements for solar generation. So El Paso Electric customers in Texas will receive some of the New Mexico-based solar power, since its on the same grid.

At this point the company doesn’t have any immediate plans to add in more solar.

“When we need new generation we’ll look at issuing a [request for proposals] and that will for all sources of [power], Acosta said.

Still, the company could install more solar power in the future.

"These projects are part of El Paso Electric's ongoing commitment to include solar energy as part of its overall energy mix provided to all its customers," Rocky Miracle, senior vice president of Corporate Planning and Development at El Paso Electric, said in a press release. "We currently have plans to invest in other solar projects that should come online within the next few years," he said.

Image courtesy of First Solar