N.M. Admin. Code § 17.9.588.15 - APPLICATION EVALUATION CRITERIA

The department will score all applications based on the following criteria.

A. Application completeness. The department will review the entire application to see that it satisfies all application requirements for the specific project type. The department will deny and deem non-responsive an incomplete application without further review.

B. Capability to meet the scope of work described. The department will consider the project timeline, appropriateness of deliverables, qualifications of project team members including subcontractors and the ability to complete the project financially if the total budget exceeds the grant amount requested.

C. Alignment with state grid modernization goals. The department will consider the extent to which a proposed project will advance grid reliability, resilience, security and cost effectiveness, and enable a flexible, diversified and distributed energy portfolio, through the adoption of a new technology or innovative application of an existing technology.

D. Replicability and broader impact. For type 1 projects, the department will consider the extent to which research findings are broadly applicable to statewide grid modernization or energy distribution or diversification goals. For type 2 and 3 projects, the department will consider the extent to which the project will lead to widespread adoption of a grid modernization technology.

E. Economic impact. The department will consider the extent to which the project will stimulate in-state economic development, workforce development or further development of a commercial market for grid modernization technology services.

F. Educational value. The department will consider the extent to which the project will foster the public's, students' or the industry's overall understanding of a new technology or an innovative application of an existing technology and will provide useful information to the state, utilities, and the general public related to grid modernization.

G. Competitive awards.

(1) Funding match. The department will prioritize projects for which the applicant has committed non-state resources to the project, including in-kind contributions.

(2) Priority applicant categories. The department will seek to fund applicants in each of these categories in any given year to the extent there are available funds and project proposals:

(a) an Indian nation, tribe or pueblo;

(b) a rural community served by a rural electric cooperative;

(c) a rural community served by an investor-owned public utility;

(d) an urban or semi-urban municipality or county; and

(e) an institution of higher education.

H. Request relative to available funding. The department will consider available funding at the time of review.

Notes

N.M. Admin. Code § 17.9.588.15

Adopted by New Mexico Register, Volume XXXIV, Issue 07, April 11, 2023, eff. 4/11/2023