History

1879

Thomas Edison made history by developing the first practical electric light in 1879. Albuquerque was the largest city in the New Mexico territory and rapid expansion of the railroad throughout the southwest brought with it the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway that reached the city.

1882

The first gas and electric franchises were established. A local Albuquerque civic leader and businessman A.A. Grant established the Albuquerque Gas Company and secured land to build a plant near the railroad's coal unloading and storage yard. The plant manufactured producer gas--made from nitrogen, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and coal or coke--for distribution to local businesses and residences.

Businessman and landowner Perfecto Armijo established the Albuquerque Electric Light Company and immediately sold his interest in the company to A.A. Grant and Dennis Dennison. The company built a new power plant with a 250-kilowatt generator and reorganized in 1886 appointing A.A. Grant as president.

1902

Albuquerque Gas, Electric Light and Power Company is established through the purchased the assets of the Albuquerque Gas Company and the Albuquerque Electric Light Company.

1904

The Albuquerque Electric Power Company is created to provide and distribute electric power to provide for a growing town with a new streetcar, transit company and a lumber company along with 608 customers. The company partners with the American Lumber Company to lease land for a new 500-kilowatt power plant and supplied fuel and water for boilers and in return provided the lumber company with continuous electric service.

Threat from an outside takeover forces a partnership of the Albuquerque Electric Power Company and Albuquerque Gas, Electric Light and Power Company in September of 1904.

1906

Ads promoting cheaper and cleaner heat from gas than from using coal appear on the scene.

1910

In 1910 a huge advance in technology occurs when the first turbo 1,000-kilowatt generator was installed at the Sawmill Power Plant. Up until this point, a steam engine had been used to turn the generator.

1911

In 1911, a public utility holding company, New York City's Federal Light and Traction Company took financial control of the two partnered companies who serve as Albuquerque’s main power supplier until 1917.

1912

New Mexico is granted statehood on January 6, 1912.

The same year to increase sales of electricity utilities the company began offering low cost wiring services for homes payable in monthly installments. The ads emphasized safety, attractiveness and comfort of having electric light in the home.

1913

Electric companies sold appliances directly to the public. Utility companies would host appliance demonstrations that were well attended. In an ad from the Albuquerque Evening Herald on Dec. 1, 1913 small appliances were priced at:

• Coffee Percolator Machines $6.90
• Electric Chafing Dish$7.35
• Electric Flat Iron $3.00
• Electric Percolator Coffee Pot $5.50
• Electric Grill $3.45
• Electric Heating Pad $3.50-$4.50
• Egg Cooker $6.25
• Electric Toaster $2.75

1917

New York City's Federal Light and Traction Company officially merge the two Albuquerque companies: Albuquerque Electric Power Company and Albuquerque Gas, Electric Light and Power Company into a new organization, the Albuquerque Gas & Electric Company.

1920

Homes and business begin wiring for electric service and electrical demand is growing steady.

1922

New generation is needed and the Albuquerque Sawmill Power Plant adds Unit 4 capable of generating 2,500 KW.

1927

A new power plant was built next to a sawmill that went into operation three years earlier in 1924 in Bernalillo. The Bernalillo Sawmill Power Plant generated 2,500 KW.

1929

The first inter-city electric transmission line in New Mexico is completed and connects Albuquerque to Santa Fe ending the dependence of each city on its own town power plant. The transmission line allowed the utilities to share generation when one became short on supply. The construction crews worked in rough terrain and spend long summer hours working in heat with only tent encampments for shelter.

On October 29, 1929, a day known forever after as "Black Tuesday," kicks off Great Depression in the United States when the American stock market crashed, plunging the country into its most severe economic downturn yet.

1930

A momentous event occurs at the end of 1930 when the first natural gas pipeline arrived in Albuquerque. Natural gas brought a clean fuel that was much higher in energy content than coal. It brought an end to having coal delivered and no more soot from coal was blackening the drapes, rugs and furniture.

1933

The depression drove several federal programs to address many of the country’s problems. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt took office he institutes a series of experimental government projects and programs known as the New Deal to provide jobs and stabilize the economy. Two of his reforms affect utilities: Public Utility Company Reform (PUCHA) and the creation of Rural Electrification Administration (REA). Around this time only one in nine farms across the country had electricity. In New Mexico was even a bigger problem, because no more than 5 percent of the rural areas in the state had electricity. It was expensive to run lines to areas with very few users and utilities were reluctant to do this. The REA was created with a single purpose to get transmission lines to farms and rural areas.

1939-1945

World War II stimulated the need to unite the geographically widespread distribution and transmission systems in New Mexico. Government defense and research installations like Kirtland Air Force Base, Sandia Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and White Sands Missile Range led to increased power demands.

1946-1947

In 1946, the Albuquerque Gas and Electric Company changed its corporate name to the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) and acquired the properties of utilities in other New Mexico cities, including New Mexico Power Company, Deming Ice and Electric Company, and Las Vegas Light and Power Company.

However, post war growth and the inability to build anything new during the war left the company in a difficult situation trying to meet the supply and demand needs of electricity for its customers.

1948

PNM goes public and operates as an independent utility.

1949

PNM sells its retail gas operation to the Southern Union Company and concentrates on electrical operations.

1960

All of PNM's generating stations used natural gas purchased from the Gas Company of New Mexico for fuel. Rising fuel costs led the company to explore the possibility of substituting coal for gas for economic reasons. The Public Service Coal Company, a wholly owned subsidiary, was formed that year to explore, acquire and develop coal properties. It later changed its name to the Western Coal Company.

1964-1966

Western Energy and Supply Transmission Associates (WEST), an organization serving nine western states forms in 1964. The next year WEST announced plans to build a joint power plant, the coal-fired Four Corners Plant in northwestern New Mexico, near PNM's coal leases. PNM acquired a 13 percent ownership in two generating units of the plant, the first step in WEST's ambitious goal of creating 36-million kilowatts of new electrical capacity by 1985 to meet projected demand. Construction on the plant starts in 1966. PNM also announced plans to construct with Tucson Gas and Electric Company another coal-fired plant in the same region, called the San Juan Generating Station, which would have state-of-the-art pollution controls.

1969

The Four Corners Plant becomes operational.

1972

PNM lists on the New York Stock Exchange.

1976

Jerry Geist becomes PNM's CEO.
Construction begins on the Palo Verde nuclear power plant.

1985

The firm acquires the Gas Company of New Mexico from Southern Union.

1990

PNM president Jerry Geist retires and John Ackerman takes over.

1994

The firm brings both its electric and gas operations under the PNM name.

2000

Jeff Sterba became PNM president and CEO.