PNM offers buildings,
partnership to Diné

By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — PNM Resources is getting out of the landlord business and refocusing on its utility business. At the same time, it is looking to outsource some of its information technology activities and is seeking a buyer for its Aztec Trading Building and Data Center in Albuquerque.
PNM representatives believe this presents a great opportunity for the Navajo Nation and is hoping to cultivate a partnership by selling the buildings to the Nation and then leasing back the space it needs. A nondisclosure agreement is now in the works.

David Harkness, Cathy Newby, Stuart Grimes and Michael D’Antonio — all of PNM — presented their offer Tuesday to the Budget and Finance Committee, which will tour the facilities on Friday. Resources Committee toured the buildings last week and spoke in support of the purchase during a special meeting Monday afternoon.

Harkness said PNM is selling its real estate with significant unused capacities. The Aztec Trading Building, which is 55,000 square feet, houses its trading group. The Data Center is at about 25 percent occupancy.

The Data Center building, when built, was significantly larger than what PNM needed.

“At the time we were doing a lot of merger and acquisition activity. It looked like a good thing to do, but at this time, the building is only about 25 to 30 percent populated with PNM technology equipment, as well as the staff that maintains it,” Harkness said.

With some of the budget challenges PNM is going through, in addition to its pending rate case before the Public Utility Commission, it would like to move as quickly as possible and is looking at value-added partnerships, such as with the Navajo Nation and Science Applications International Corp., whose largest customer is the U.S. government.

Regarding Navajo, Harkness said, “It’s a revenue opportunity for us to lease that space from you as well as any other companies that want to lease that space.”

He said SAIC would be a good partnership for the Nation. “They have expressed an interest in helping in any way they could be of service to help the Navajo Nation become more equipped, and training the Nation on how to operate such a facility.

“Longer term, we really see a good opportunity from a fiber optics/exchange agreement moving forward. The connectivity of the Data Center now is really focused from connectivity into Albuquerque as well as the rest of the fiber optic networks.”

The state-of-the-art Data Center was built two years ago and was the first Leeds Silver Certified “green” building in the country. It has protected power and air conditioning and is located on a secured campus, with numerous layers of security to get into the building, work space, operation control center, and technology core, Harkness said.

“We really think this is a real opportunity for PNMR as well as SAIC to work together as a job-shadowing and learning environment as we go forward.”

Cathy Newby of PNM Tribal Relations said that if the Nation is going to pursue gaming, it needs an off-site data storage facility. Harkness said the location would be great for housing the infrastructure needed to monitor the casino industry.

Other possible tenants, according to PNM, include New Mexico pueblos, the state of New Mexico, the federal government, University of New Mexico as well as UNM Hospital. PNM also has had inquiries from states looking for “disaster recovery” sites. “New Mexico is a tremendous location for disaster recovery. We don’t have very many natural disasters here,” Harkness said.

“So there really is a guaranteed revenue stream when you first come in the building. This is something that day-one, you get a return on your investment.”

Additional long-term benefits deal with fiber optics.
“We have connectivity to the Lambda Rail, which provides the Internet access, we’ve got connectivity to the Carrier Hotel in downtown Albuquerque, as well as connectivity to the UNM Distance Learning/Healthcare facility,” Harkness said.

Stuart Grimes of the Telecommunications Department said PNM has about 400 miles of fiber optic cable already run, which it typically uses to control its switching stations. “We have a fairly high concentration of fiber throughout the Albuquerque metro area.”

Navajo Department of Information Technology is very interested in the fiber optic system PNM has outside of Albuquerque, he said. One system extends to just outside Gallup. PNM also has a fiber optic system that runs between downtown Albuquerque all the way to San Juan Generating Station just outside Farmington.

From San Juan Generating Station, “we have fiber optic that goes west to Shiprock Substation. I’m told that we could tie it in with NTUA and possibly get fiber out of that location and into Shiprock,” Grimes said.

PNM also has microwave/wireless Internet infrastructure at the Aztec facility.

“From Albuquerque, we have a microwave link that goes to Mount Taylor, and from Mount Taylor, we have one that goes to Ambrosia,” he said. Another link goes to San Juan County