Santa Fe County commissioners have given the green light to a high-profile and controversial solar and battery energy storage facility that has divided opinion in the region and generated heated opposition in the Eldorado area.
The commission’s 4-1 vote Tuesday to approve the Rancho Viejo Solar project is likely not the end of the story — opponents have said they plan to appeal the approval to state District Court.
The project comes as New Mexico aims to make a shift to clean energy and away from coal and gas, and commissioners who voted to support the project cited the need to get renewable energy projects online to combat climate change.
“I think that this project is much, much, much safer than the alternative — the alternative would be a 332-home development, with 332 potential fire hazards,” said Commissioner Hank Hughes, who is a resident of Eldorado and made the motion at Tuesday’s meeting to approve the proposal.
He added, “I think this is the right decision. We are living in a climate crisis. … This is so much safer than fossil fuels.”
The commission’s decision comes after a public hearing earlier this month that featured more than 20 hours of testimony. When the roll-call vote played out, at least one person in the audience cried out in frustration. Rancho Viejo Solar, proposed by Northern Virginia-based AES Corp., has drawn fierce opposition from residents concerned about impact on property values and the risk of fire from battery cells overheating.
Company lauds vote
Aiming to generate 96 megawatts of power and roughly 45 megawatts of battery storage, the project would cover 680 acres of a roughly 800-acre parcel and include a solar facility, a 1-acre collector substation, a 3-acre battery storage system and a 2.3-mile generation line about four miles east of La Cienega.
Public Service Company of New Mexico is the intended client for the project.
Joshua Mayer, senior development manager for AES, said in a statement the vote is “an essential step toward delivering safe, reliable, and affordable energy to the local grid as energy demand continues to rise, while directly advancing New Mexico’s clean energy goals.”
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Joshua Mayer, senior development manager for AES, listens to concerned citizens speak about on the Rancho Viejo Solar project during Day 2 of a hearing at the Santa Fe County Commission chamber earlier this month. The public hearing featured over 20 hours of testimony on the project before commissioners approved the site Tuesday.
The county Planning Commission approved a conditional use permit for Rancho Viejo Solar earlier this year, a decision project opponents appealed to county commissioners. In an interview earlier this month, leaders with the Clean Energy Coalition of Santa Fe County, an organization that opposes the solar project and has about 2,000 members, said the group intended to appeal if the commissioners opted to uphold the Planning Commission’s decision.
The vehement pushback has been a source of frustration for the project’s supporters, who say it could generate enough electricity to carry roughly the entire residential power load of Santa Fe and would mark a significant move in the state’s clean energy transition.
Commissioners sound off
Commissioner Lisa Cacari Stone was the lone member of the board to vote against Rancho Viejo Solar. In her comments ahead of the vote, she indicated she has concerns about safety, technology and about the application overall.
Lisa Cacari Stone headshot
Lisa Cacari Stone
“There is the importance of the public health impact. The proximity of this large-scale project to neighborhoods and Rancho Viejo continues to create potential hazards and can be very detrimental to all those in the area,” Cacari Stone said.
“My vote is not against solar energy,” she added. “It is against this particular proposal by AES because it does not meet — based on the evidence I’ve reviewed, written submissions and testimonies — the highest standards we owe all of our communities.”
Commissioner Justin Greene, who is among the candidates running to be the next mayor of Santa Fe and who voted to support the project, noted some of the conditions with which AES will need to comply, including increasing the distance between battery containers in the interest of reducing fire risk.
Justin Greene
Justin Greene
“We get calls for environmentalism and sustainability, and we are answering that call by creating a project and helping a project that will power Santa Fe and Santa Fe County,” Greene said.
Some commissioners noted county officials as well as third-party technical experts recommended approval of the conditional use permit.
“The environmental benefits of this are very important to me as an environmentalist myself and as someone with a 7-year-old child who will inherit our future,” Commissioner Adam Fulton Johnson said. “Projects like this are critical to meeting our renewable energy goals and replacing retired coal plants.”
‘It will go to District Court’
Lee Zlotoff, who helms the Clean Energy Coalition of Santa Fe County, said in an interview earlier this month the organization has raised more than $50,000 and is prepared to go to court if the commissioners approve the land use permit. He noted his group is “in this for the long haul.”
“The fight’s not over,” said Randy Coleman, the organization’s vice president, confirming Tuesday the group plans to file an appeal.
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John Lee, left, and Pat Czeto stand outside with protest signs ahead of a public hearing on the Rancho Viejo Solar project in August 2025. The Clean Energy Coalition of Santa Fe County, an organization that opposes the solar project and has about 2,000 members, said the group intended to appeal if the commissioners opted to uphold the Planning Commission’s decision.
Selma Eikelenboom, a resident of Ranchos San Marcos who lives near the project site, was unsurprised by the outcome Thursday, but said she is confident the matter will end up in court.
An opponent of the project, she said she has spent three years studying AES’ proposal but, as a party with standing before the county commissioners, had only an hour to make her case.
“It’s a shame, but it’s not over till the fat lady sings, as they say, and it means it will go to District Court,” Eikelenboom said.
‘A great precedent’
After the meeting, Robert Cordingley, president of the nonprofit 350 Santa Fe, said the Rancho Viejo Solar hearing process can serve as a template moving forward for advocates who are pushing to get such projects approved.
“We think this will set a great precedent and a template for future battery storage and solar farm projects, not just in Santa Fe County but in the state as a whole,” Cordingley said.
Glenn Schiffbauer, executive director of the Santa Fe Green Chamber of Commerce, has also supported Rancho Viejo Solar through the lengthy process alongside groups like the Sierra Club’s Rio Grande Chapter.
“It’s a good day,” Schiffbauer said. “For me and my organization, I think it was really good to see the county of Santa Fe take advantage of the opportunity that was presented to them to lead in renewable energy generation. … This was the first big one. Rather than doing nothing, which is usually the easier way, they did something, and now we have a template going forward.”