NM's transmission challenge

• The governor talked with Axios about New Mexico's transition plans and what Washington can learn from the states about climate policy.

Driving the news: Lujan Grisham said she believes SunZia will get built. She commended the Biden administration for getting the federal permitting process across the finish line.

• But she said the company behind the project "could have done a little more work collaborating with sovereign nations."
• Having the state "invest some time and energy there, I think, can mitigate a lot of that," she said. But "it may not interrupt all those lawsuits, and it might change some of [the] design."

Context: The project broke ground last year — after nearly two decades of planning and permitting.

• But tribes and environmental groups have sued to stop it, and construction was briefly suspended last year in response to tribal concerns.
• Pattern Energy, the company behind the project, "has always put the protection of tribal cultural resources at the forefront of this project and will continue to do so," a company spokesperson said in an email.

Between the lines: This is a big project for New Mexico, which has an energy transition law, a net zero goal by 2050 and is looking to become a player in renewables.

• The lengthy process to get projects like SunZia in the ground is one obstacle that Lujan Grisham sees.
• Modernizing the grid, she said, is taking too long, and that compounds supply chain challenges in the renewable energy industry.
• "I can build another 40,000 acres of solar fields," she told us. "I can quadruple the amount of battery storage we have. I can have two of North America's largest wind energy farms … but I can't put enough of those green electrons onto antiquated grids."