Aggie Almanac; 187; Going Solar and NMSU-A Turns 50

You Coming up on Aggie Almanac, a rooftop array of solar panels that could transform the way we think about energy in southern New Mexico. The cost of solar is now affordable and competitive. And they call it NMSU-A, and it's celebrating an important birthday. When we started out, we had 234 students, and so now we're 50 years old, and we're well above 234 students. Hi, I'm Gary Worth, and thanks for watching Aggie Almanac. Solar power. Is it really a viable source of alternative energy?

Well, one local organization that's been working very closely with New Mexico State University says, yes, it is. And they put their words into action with a newly installed photovoltaic system that they hope many other area businesses and homeowners will adopt in the not too distant future. From atop this building, which houses the Southwest Environmental Center of southern New Mexico, you get some great views of the newly renovated section of downtown Las Cruces. But as charming as it is down below, it's what's on the roof that's getting people's attention. It's an array of solar panels that are paving the way to a different kind of energy future for this region. This is a historic occasion. We are here to dedicate the first photovoltaic system and commercial use to come online in the city of Las Cruces. Down below, those panels up above and out of sight are being celebrated.

There's our hope that this is the beginning of a new era of clean renewable energy for southern New Mexico. But I hope also that in 10 years' time, today will be a footnote in history. I hope that rooftop solar systems will be so commonplace in Las Cruces and throughout New Mexico that nobody will remember who had the first one win. And with the cutting of a chain, a symbol of our dependence as a nation on fossil fuels, this first-of-a-kind solar power generating system was officially dedicated. I want to commend the Southwest Environmental Center in New Mexico State for participating and actually being partners in this project, and for answering the call to expand the state's renewable energy. The path to clean energy is a collective effort. The federal government is not leading, so it's up to institutions and cities and environmental groups and citizens to take those first steps. Local government, states, business communities, and in New Mexico, one of the best partnerships we have is that we're all working together to make us the clean energy state.

It has indeed been a pioneering partnership involving three entities. The Southwest Environmental Center is a nonprofit organization that works to protect and restore native wildlife and their habitat in this region. In this project, it has teamed up with New Mexico State University's Institute for Energy and the Environment and the El Paso Electric Company, using funds allocated from the 2006 New Mexico Legislature. You have to be willing to make your way up a somewhat unsteady-looking ladder to see what they did. This is what they put together on the rooftop of this building. The first photovoltaic system used commercially in the city of Los Cruces. It generates renewable, clean electricity from the sun without contributing to global warming. This is what we call a silicon, a type of a silicon crystal type of solar modules.

Luis Estrada is an IE project engineer who, along with other staff members and five student interns, helped install this unique unit, which relies on a series of solar panels that are connected. Each of these modules produces 180 watts. We actually combine them in series 11 solar modules in series and combine three sub arrays into a total system size of a 6 kilowatt. We're feeding that 6 kilowatt down into an inverter that will convert, of course, these solar modules will only produce you DC energy. So we have to convert that DC into alternating current, and we have an inverter, a 6 kilowatt inverter that is interconnected and tied into the utility grid, or, let's say, the Opaz Electric Point of Interconnection. We've all seen solar panels before, and while they look much the same as they did years ago, they're a lot more efficient now. This system generates 950 kilowatt hours a month, enough energy to power two homes for a year.

At this point, these guys will produce about 17 to 18 percent of energy conversion. Back in 1980, their efficiency was about 5 to 8 percent, so it's come a long ways. It took Estrada and his team from NMSU about 18 months to install the panels. It took quite a while. This is the first commercial portable tech system in the city limits of Las Cruces, and permitting was, well, it was new ground for the city. So there are a lot of issues that had to be resolved, so, you know, I think the next system to come along is going to, it won't take nearly as long to get permitted online. If you're wondering what it all cost, well, the equipment priced out at about $50,000. NMSU did the installation work valued at another $20,000. And it's a minor investment of $110,000 that they're going to reduce their energy by almost close to 50 percent. That's a pretty good investment.

But the system doesn't just reduce energy costs. The real beauty of it is that it also pays you back. We have a purchase agreement here with the Environmental Center, actually, does, to the green credit that we produce, with the surplus of energy that we produce, they have to pay us $0.12 a kilowatt hour that we produce on there. You heard that right. Instead of buying power from the electric utility, the Southwest Environmental Center, with this system in place, will not only generate power for its daily operations. It's also entered into a 25-year agreement with the El Paso Electric Company to do what's called net metering. The photovoltaic roof system is tied directly into El Paso Electric's distribution system. No batteries are needed. Any excess power generated by these panels will be sold to the utility. The electric meter actually spins backwards when that happens. It's an extra source of income for the Environmental Center and an extra source of power for the utility, which has a special incentive to buy back power from consumers. Not only will El Paso Electric pass along this clean energy to its customers, but the agreement will enable the utility to work towards meeting our states increased renewable portfolio standards.

Increasingly, utilities are facing new requirements from state governments to make sure a higher percentage of the power they produce is from renewable sources. The idea is to get us off fossil fuels and hopefully keep ever rising energy costs in check. In fact, one of the main reasons the Southwest Environmental Center installed these panels is to encourage other residents and businesses in the region to follow their lead. This is what we do. This is part of our mission to demonstrate the benefits and the viability of alternative energy.

One of the things we do, we're very much involved with trying to protect special places like Otero Mace from oil and gas development. And onsite renewable energy systems like this can help eliminate the need to drill in places like Otero Mace. Southwest Environmental Center is going to be the leader. We're going to be looking up to them as a commercial business to basically set the foundation for all other businesses to follow. For those of you who are thinking about maybe installing a system at your house or business or school or wherever, I encourage you to do so. If current federal and state tax benefits with the ability and net meter and the ability to sell potential to sell renewable energy credits to utilities, the cost of solar is now affordable and competitive. And the financial picture will only get better as energy, the price of non-indulable energy funds. The governor says the state is serious about making alternative energy systems like this one more affordable for residents.

We have worked extensively at the state level to utilize our abundant solar resources by making the use of clean energy more attractive, solar, wind, biofuels, the entire scope. And research and tax incentives in subsidies were a state that is ready to put our state bucks in entrepreneurial ventures that promote clean energy. We've broken down the cost barrier by establishing tax credits for residents and businesses to choose to install solar systems. One of the big challenges for the future has been to make solar more affordable so that neighborhoods and communities can participate. So that it isn't just the federal government and research institutions, but ordinary citizens that in their own homes and their own businesses move forward. City officials attending this event say they've gotten the message as well. Earlier we met with members of the NMSU engineers and we were talking about the upcoming city hall and how we could make that building energy, energy ready, solar energy ready when we open the doors.

We may not be able to put solar panels on from day one, but if men be in subsequent phases, we can build into the new city hall and make it, make it energy free as possible. The big message here, it has never been more affordable or practical to think about using solar power than it is right now. I really feel that it's time that we need to stop poking into the past and we also not stop peeking into the future. But we need to start being the future and it is going to be through our commitments of incorporating these kind of projects now. This is a true example of collaboration and how we can't go at it by ourselves but by forming partnerships with different institutions. Things that before we thought were possible are now a reality.

I would maybe put the question to everybody here today. What are you doing to help combat global climate change, global warming and to push ourselves towards a sustainable future? Now you can take a look at this solar initiative yourself by making a visit to the Southwest Environmental Center. With the assistance of Enemissue and the El Paso Electric Company, the center has put together an educational exhibit about renewable energy. The center is located at 275 North Downtown Mall and we'll be right back. When we started out we had 234 students and so now we're 50 years old and we're well above 234 students. Also we have our own campus now. Welcome back. It's called Enemissue A. The A stands for Alamogordo because that's where the campus is located. Enemissue's Alamogordo campus is marking a milestone this year. It's turning 50 years old.

The birthday is giving the college a chance to both look back at its achievements and look ahead at how it needs to expand to continue to serve the community. It's a community college with a great location on the side of a mountain and views of the growing city of Alamogordo and this year Enemissue A turns 50 years old. I think it's awesome. I had no idea that it was that old and all of the things that they've been doing for that long are amazing. But the college had humble beginnings. In 1958 the first classes were held at night at Alamogordo High School. It wasn't until a decade later that the college took up permanent residency at 2400 North Scenic Drive. It was a proud group that helped break ground on the very first building and as the first structure went up no one could imagine how quickly the college was about to grow. Now 50 years later Enemissue A has more than 3,000 students and that number is growing fast with enrollment up more than 30% this year alone.

The number of buildings on campus has also grown to a total of 14 and this year construction will begin on yet another one at this site, a special very green building that's called the Allied Health Edition, a 16,000 square foot health sciences center which will house the nursing and health sciences programs. What do you call the cells that make a bad post issue? Vince Lombrona teaches biology at the college and he can't wait for the new building to be completed. Our biology program feeds our nursing program and it's going to be nice to have the two programs closer together. You know my students finish up and then they go up the hill to the protect building where they do nursing now. And this will allow the kids to be closer to the process down here. The building is coming just in time because Enemissue A's nursing program is very popular.

I think it'll help. It'll be a little more high tech. I'm excited about it. Of course it's not just nursing. Enemissue A now offers 11 associate degrees, 14 associate of applied science degrees and more than 20 certificate programs. And it's planning to add something else very soon. We just passed a geo bond for $3 million and we're going to the legislature for additional money. We're going to be putting together a trade center. It's going to be located across the street near the Tays Center. And we're going to be putting in HVAC, automotive, plumbing, carpentry, the various trades. It's in reaction to requests from the community that we do quite a bit of that work here. It's meeting the needs of this growing community that Enemissue A has been all about for five decades. And now at age 50 with more students on campus than ever before, it's planning for an exciting future. It's an incredible college.

Well, with us now to talk more about Enemissue A's 50th birthday is Dr. Sherry Jimeno, who has been the president of the campus since May of last year. That's correct. So a little more than a year that you've been over at the Alamo Gordo campus. Well, welcome to our program. Thank you so much. And I guess there's so many things I want to ask you about that campus over there. But the numbers are just out about enrollment and it's very impressive. 30.8% increase enrollment is what I read over last year, the same time. How is that possible? Well, you know, it's really pretty interesting. If you take a look at our enrollment for about 10 years, it was pretty flat. Then last year we just started to boot. So our enrollment overall last year was up over 30%. And in fact, our spring semester enrollment was higher than our fall semester enrollment, which is pretty a typical for an institution of higher education. And then this fall, we've had the exact same thing enrollment for this fall is over 30% of last fall. So what are the hard numbers in terms of the actual numbers of students that are in campus?

The actual unduplicated head count. We're going to this fall, see over 3,000 students. Now, with those kinds of increases, how do you manage that kind of growth? Well, it's been interesting, but we've really enjoyed it. One of the things we're using a lot more part-time faculty than what we've used before. We have a lot more online courses. And of course, one of the things that's happened is that our student services personnel has just been hopping. They've been doing a really nice job trying to get everybody registered, trying to advise every student. But yes, we're growing much faster than we'd actually anticipated. And so we're really working at trying to include and get more personnel hired. And what about space for all these students? Space has been another challenge. One of the things that, of course, we have an advantage. We actually go from early in the morning until late at night. We also go on the weekends. So before, when we had some unused space, we don't have any unused spaces at this time.

And now you're getting some new space. We're going to talk about that in just a moment. That's very exciting. But I want to back up just a little bit because you are celebrating the 50th anniversary. I think not too many people who are watching know, first of all, that much about NMSU-A, unless they've been a student there. And certainly don't know the history of it. And I know that you're new, and maybe you're not all that familiar with its history either. But what can you tell us what you do know about its very beginning? Sure. 50 years ago, basically, the campus started. And what we did is we started in the Alamogordo Public Schools. So the high school actually gave a space to be able to have classes. And when we started out, we had 234 students. And so now we're 50 years old. And we're well above 234 students. Also, we have our own campus now with what, 12 buildings? 12 buildings on the campus, sort of on the side of the mountain. Yes.

Beautiful setting. It is. It really is, really wonderful. And what would you say have been some of the milestones in that 50 years, the most important things that have happened at that campus? Well, obviously one of the things, of course, is the increasing the number of programs that we offer. Realistically, what we offered in the first place were some courses that had to do with transfer. Now we have both. And when you say transfer, you mean going to a main campus like that? Going to a bachelor's degree. Yes. So of course now when you take a look at our programs, we have both transfer degrees and terminal degrees. And the terminal degrees is what we refer to as our certificate and AAS degrees. One program that we have that's always fully enrolled is of course our nursing program. Right. And then of course many of our computer programs are also full as well. And then some of the science programs, those are probably still transfer programs. But basically the milestones I would say is the increase what we're doing with program development. And of course one of the things that we're trying to do now is really expand our vocational technical areas.

So realistically what we had is, we've really had very little training in the area of what we used to call the trades area. And what we're trying to do is increase the enrollment, increase the being able to offer programs in that area. And in fact in April we just passed a $5 million general obligation bond in the community. Which is tough to do. That is a terrible powder. And basically it did pass. It did pass. In fact it passed by a three to one ratio. Not bad. Not bad at all. So I guess people want that education. They do. They do. And so of course that $3 million of that has been dedicated specifically to the trades programs. And then we're asking the stage for a match. Now I think you mentioned to me you were the only camp community college that didn't have a trades program in the state. Oh, that's correct. How did that happen? How did you get that? I'm not really sure. In fact of course obviously one of the things that interested New Mexico state in hiring me was my background in that area. So realistically very familiar with that area.

And when I was a provost at Montana State University of Northern we had a very well developed two year or four year graduate programs in those areas. So you're trying to round out the community college there with this new addition of some of the trades. And with this bond money you think that's that's going to happen. And I would assume over the 50 years Alamogordo has changed quite a bit too. And the needs are very different than they were 50 years ago. Well, when you take a look at just the growth in Alamogordo alone, I would say probably the community itself over the last 50 years. And I'm just going to guess at a percentage here. But realistically the community has doubled. There's no question about that. And a lot of people needing jobs and skills and those kinds of things. And I want to get back a little bit to the enrollment because who are the people? They keep coming into the college. Are they young people? Are they older people? Who are they? Well it's both.

It's both. You know one of the things that we're not an atypical community college. And that is over 30% of the individuals who come to our community college are what we refer to as an odd traditional student. So 27 years older are older. Some are coming back for retraining in different areas of what they've had before. One of the things, of course, that we're seeing is we're seeing many more students. In fact, our enrollment for our high school students is significantly going out because of the dual enrollment. Right. The dual enrollment thing where you actually allow high school students to get some college credit while they're still in school. Yes. Well, and what we're seeing of course is a lot more demand in that area. Right. And we're going to see even more because starting next year to be able to be eligible to graduate from high school, you're going to have to have dual enrollment, advanced placement or an online course. So we look for that continuing to expand. And I read in your information, 50% of your courses are online. Is that correct?

No, not 50% of our courses, but 50% of our increase in courses are online. Yes. And that helps you with the space and all of that thing. Now, I got to talk about this new building, which is an important building for the whole NMSU system. Yes. Because it's the first one in the state or in the system. Of course, it's the first one in the system. In the NMSU system. Yes. That meets the sort of green standard that you call the leads standard. Silver certification standard. Right. So tell me about that building. Basically, that building is what we refer to as the Allied Health Edition. And so that will be attached to our right-winger science center. And that building will be built to the leads over certification standards. It will be predominantly housed our nursing programs and some of our science programs. Would you always need space for this? Absolutely. So when do you expect that to be completed? You've got the money in hand for that. The money isn't hand. We will, we hope to be done by March of 2009. So realistically, we should be able to start offering classes in there as soon as the summer 2009.

We'll keep an eye on that. Okay. I know also that there's a million dollars in the state general obligation bonds that's coming up. Tell me what that would be used for. Basically, that's going to be used for further renovations on our classroom building, which is actually the first building that was built for the campus. And so what we'll be doing is renovating those areas. And then also renovating what we call the common areas of the campus. So for example, where the student study areas where you come into what we refer to as a class house. And also the outside area, the patio area for where the students and faculty gather for a variety of different activities. So this is largely money that would be spent to do a lot of renovation work. Absolutely. Yes. I would assume with some of these older buildings. Yes. It's a little bit long overdue. Yes. Well, you know, it's interesting. Right now we're in the process of putting on a new roof onto the student union building. So what it's, you know, the original roof.

And now what we're trying to do is keep the facilities always up to date. Never ending job. Never ending. 50th anniversary. Yes. So what do we got going? How are you celebrating? Well, a variety of different things. One of the things, of course, is that we're trying to tell the community what we've been doing. One of the things is we have increased our marketing component. We have an every other week article in the Alamogordo Daily News. We have a brand new website that we have just posted and put up to date. The other thing that we're going to be doing in December is having a 50th anniversary cruise. How does that tell me a little about that? Well, what that is is that's actually a cruise that's going down to, that's through Norwegian Airlines. And basically we've worked to one of our local travel agents to get that done. To get individuals involved, more involved in our alumni activities and our foundation activities. What an incredible idea.

Do I get a free room? Well, that's free as I get by. I'm always trying to get a cruise. Well, we could go on forever, but Dr. Humana, we're out of time. Okay. But I just want to thank you so much for sharing a little bit more about NMS UA. Is it exciting things? Any last word about where you want to see it go in the future? Well, you know, I always make this statement. This year, I say to the faculty and staff and the students, watch out 5,000. And we want to continue to grow. Also, we're taking a look at how to make sure that we keep the infrastructure up to date. And also how we continue to build buildings and update our facilities to help our increase in enrollment. Fantastic. Well, it sounds like you're doing a great job after your first year. Again, thank you for joining us, Dr. Humana from NMS UA. And it's time now for our amazing Aggie of the Week when we honor someone on campus involved in something that we think is a little extra special. This week's amazing Aggie is a product of NMS UA.

Diana Hay graduated from the college in 2002 and went on to do them proud. She's a photographer and she's been awarded an honorable mention in the very prestigious 2008 International Photography Competition for three of her entries. Diana is a military spouse from Holliman Air Force Base and is planning to open her own studio in Alamagordo soon. Now, if you'd like to nominate an amazing Aggie or have any comment about the show, call us at 646-2818 or send an e-mail to Aggie Almanac at Yahoo.com. And that's our show for this week. I'm Gary Worth. Thanks for watching. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.