The educational forum is free and open to the public. It begins at 8:30 a.m. in Sweeney Convention Center in downtown Santa Fe. Parking is available at the center, at the Municipal Parking garage on Sandoval Street two blocks south of the center, or on-street.
Included in the forum are panel discussions moderated by Robert Schwartz, a state Public Utilities Commission commissioner. Kicking off the forum will be an overview of the electric power industry in New Mexico by panelists State Sen. Michael Sanchez, D-Valencia County, Dan Adamson of the Department of Energy, Wayne Shirley, chairman of the New Mexico Public Utilities Commission, industry representatives, and consumer and environmental advocates.
The workshop is the third the Laboratory has sponsored on environmental sustainability issues, said Ware Hartwell of Los Alamos' Environmental Management Program Office.
"Sustainability is about preserving choices for future generations. It considers the balance of economic, environmental, and quality of life impacts of our decision over time as well as during the here and now," said Hartwell.
"As New Mexico confronts the opportunities associated with deregulation, people in the community must understand the issues and alternatives . . . This series of 'shared learning' events is the cornerstone to the efforts of the task force and other self-motivated working groups formed spontaneously as a result of these events."
Those attending the forum also can take part in a survey on how the electric power industry should be deregulated. The survey results will be provided to the State Legislature, said Hartwell.
Other forum sponsors include the University of California; San Cristobal Research Center, a Taos County not-for-profit organization that focuses on issues of sustainable community development; the state Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department; Covington Consulting; and the state Public Utilities Commission.
For more information, call Inez Salazar of Los Alamos' Environmental Management Program Office at 667-0195.
Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, The Babcock & Wilcox Company, and Washington Group International for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.