Meredith Dixon - Building an Advanced Energy Economy in New Mexico

Welcome to AwarePreneurs, the world's longest running social entrepreneur podcast. If you could take a moment and hit subscribe and do a review on your favorite podcast app, it helps our guests reach more social entrepreneurs. Thank you. Today I am thrilled to introduce you to Representative Meredith Dixon. And our topic today is Building an Advanced Energy Ecosystem in New Mexico. In a political climate that is more partisan and polarized than ever, the idea of working together for the common good seems impossible. State Representative Meredith Dixon has a different view. Her approach, one which is focused on bringing people together, is getting results for the people of Albuquerque and all of New Mexico.

Representative Dixon is one of the founders of New Mexico Women Lead, the organization that sponsors the Building an Advanced Energy Ecosystem conference this year. It takes place on September 15th and 16th at the Sandia Resort and Casino near Albuquerque. She was also the keynote for the recent Climate and Advanced energy track of TechTalks during Atomic 66 in Albuquerque. And her keynote got the highest positive feedback of any of our 55 plus speakers on the event. So I am thrilled to have Meredith here. Welcome to the show.

Thank you, Paul. I am very excited to be here and had a wonderful time at atomic 66. So thank you for including me in that.

It's an honor to have you there. We got such great feedback that we incorporated tech talks and we'll talk about that some other time. I'm about to do a solo episode on that because I want people to know about it. But we're not here to talk about that. In your bio Emeritus, you start off talking about the polarized landscape. We're seeing that here in New Mexico. We're seeing that throughout the US we're seeing that throughout the world. And just last night I was talking to two.

I was at an event, I was talking to two different entrepreneurs. I know both of them. One of them is very progressive and one of them is very conservative. And both of them think highly of you. And that's not that common. Right. So talk to us a little bit about that piece in your bio about how do you personally think about providing value and building community and navigating polarized times that we're experiencing right now.

Paul, thank you for asking me that. It is probably one of my favorite subjects to talk about. So when I decided to run for office in 2020, one of the reasons that, you know, I ultimately decided to do it is House District 20 is a swing district. And so it's, it's fairly evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats and that we've got a large portion of independents. And one of the things that I felt I could bring to the table was an ability to listen and talk to both sides of the aisle and sort of bring people together. I grew up in a household where my mom was liberal, is a liberal Democrat. My father was very conservative. Just so happens that my husband is Republican, probably a little bit more libertarian.

But, you know, I am very used to being able to, you know, just have conversations with someone, regardless of political affiliation and focus on the areas that we can agree on and figure out what some common solutions are. I try not to get bogged down in some of the hot topics and, and I, you know, at least my husband and I have figured out, you know, just when to agree to disagree. So, yeah, that's sort of what started it for me.

Important skill. Agree to disagree sometimes and do that respectfully. Right?

Yeah. Yeah.

So there's some context to this episode. We're going to be talking quite a bit about advanced energy and clean tech in New Mexico. I just want to name listeners. There will be links to two other episodes I've done with leaders here in New Mexico for some background. One is episode 354 with Representative Andrea Romero. We did a pretty deep dive into the New Mexico Permanent Fund, so we might mention that today because it's a very substantial resource. But we won't have to go that deep because you can check that out more. And also episode 361 with Rebecca Stair, who's the director of the New Mexico Energy Office.

And that topic was called How New Mexico Supporting Clean Tech Startups. So we're going to. We certainly want to hear what you have to say about this, Meredith, but I just wanted to give people a little bit background that we might be referencing those episodes. So sitting in your seat, one of the things you're known for in the startup ecosystem and in the economic development ecosystem in New Mexico is really being an advocate for clean tech and advanced energy technologies. What would you say right here? We're recording this towards the end of July in 2025. What is a state of. The state of clean tech in New Mexico right here, right now?

So I think, you know, I feel like a lot of people are using the term inflection point, and I feel that that's actually quite appropriate right now. I think New Mexico is. I think we are sort of on the precipice of taking off. There is so much going on in New Mexico, and I think part of why we don't always feel like we're doing as much as we are is because I don't think people know all of the different aspects of our economic development tools or the resources that the state can provide to climate tech and clean energy companies. But there is so much going on, there are so many startups. People are looking at New Mexico as a place to move, do pilot demonstrations. There's just, I think that we are moving forward at a fast clip right now.

One of the reasons for that is this permanent fund. If somebody hasn't listened to episode 354 or didn't know much about the permanent fund, what is it and how does it relate to clean tech and advanced energy startups?

Sure. So with the state's permanent fund, I think right now it's at about $67 billion. The state investment Council has taken a portion of that and they invest in funds that invest in climate deep tech and startups. And the goal for those investments with the venture partners that they have is that those partners will invest in companies that either are already located in New Mexico or are looking to locate in New Mexico. But you know, the funds themselves are working to have strong returns. So they're making, I think, thoughtful and deliberate investments.

And I didn't know it was up to 67 billion. I knew is over 60 billion. But listeners, if you put that together with New Mexico's population being under 2.5 ish million, 2.4 ish million, you can do the math per capita, this is a very significant resource that's part of the equation. There's more than just the money though, right? That's one part of things. But there's something about sort of the human capital and the like seeing some startups getting traction. One of the companies in our energy showcase for tech talks was ubiquity. They're doing really amazing work with quant quantum dots and energy production technology that came out of LANL is super cool stuff. Like what is the, not just the capital portion of the equation of why things are happening so quickly in the energy space in New Mexico right now.

So I actually want to go back to a little bit more about the permanent fund and then let's come back to that specific question. One of the really neat things about the permanent fund, and I don't know if all of your listeners realize that New Mexico is the number two producer of oil in the United States and oil and gas revenues play a huge part of the state's revenue and economy. And right now we are blessed with record surplus for our budget. One of the benefits of the permanent fund is that I believe it's in about 10 years time, the interest, the disbursements that we'll be getting from the permanent funds will be able to replace the revenue that we expect to lose from oil and gas. So we will be able to continue to fund our budget as though oil and gas were still our top commodity, even if that revenue goes down because we've done such a good job at building the permanent fund. The other thing that has happened with the permanent fund or the revenue and the surplus is that it's allowed the state to make, I think really strategic investments in diversifying into other sectors. And one of those sectors is advanced energy. And so I think when we talk about the investment funds and bringing folks here, but New Mexico, our state is also working aggressively to identify other tools that we can use to support startups, not just in advanced energy, but sort of especially these science and technology areas.

What are some of the other ways that we can help the companies succeed, grow, bring more people here, expand their reach and do things like that. So it's an exciting time for the state and I think we can continue to grow and look at new possibilities because we have that excess revenue.

One of the recent developments from the permanent fund, as I understand it, was sort of an up leveling of support that the state economic development office is providing for tech and innovation companies called the Technology and Innovation Office. And my understanding is you're a big advocate for that. Can you tell us a little bit about that office and why is it important?

Sure. So in 2021, or maybe it was 2020, the state of New Mexico worked with Stanford Research Institute to do a strategic plan for economic development. The strategic plan identified nine sectors in which New Mexico had a competitive advantage. Basically saying, you know, we have certain assets here in the state that make New Mexico give us a leg up on the competition. Two of those sectors are film and outdoor recreation. And New Mexico is doing very well in those two sectors and we've put a lot of time and money into supporting those industries. Some of the other sectors though, haven't had quite as much attention and those are areas that are really significant, especially right now. And sectors like biosciences, aerospace and space, clean energy and advanced computing.

Those are high growth areas that New Mexico needs to capitalize on right now. We can't wait five years to invest in quantum or cybersecurity. We need to be positioned to do it right now. The idea of the technology and innovation office was to create space within the economic development department that would focus on these high growth science and Technology sectors have staff dedicated to working with aerospace companies, working with bioscience companies, clean energy, so that, you know, we have the capacity to support the companies that are starting here, bring in partners, relocating companies. But we just hadn't been investing in quite the way that I think we needed to be doing. And so the tech and innovation office, really, I think it says to New Mexico and the rest of the the world that we are serious about maximizing possibilities in these areas. We also have an advisory board that I think is going to be committed to ensuring constant communication in those sectors with our economic development team. Then there's also within the office a research, development and deployment fund that they will be able to oversee, which I think is another unique asset for the state.

Great. And just an example. So the state did some very generous like tax advantages and the movie industry. And a number of things came out of that. Like Netflix moved their base of operations to Albuquerque. And suddenly you saw movies being shot everywhere. I live in downtown Albuquerque. There are like whole roads being shut down and you know, some pretty substantial films got shot here.

And you know, a friend of mine, his brother, you know, has his own production facility in his backyard and he's making like the inside of. He's. He's an incredible fabric. He's making the inside of UFOs where like the UFO crashes and the shot is happening in the cockpit. Like he's building that stuff. Right. And a lot of us in New Mexico have stories like that that we've seen, our friends, our family, you know, real direct results out of that leadership from the state. And then you think about again, I'm a climate guy, co founder of ANIM Climate and underrepresented founders.

Another bucket that's really important to me. And we know in the climate and the clean energy space at New Mexico, depends on who you argue with. Are we number one or number two in New Mexico in terms of solar and wind capacity, supposedly Arizona gets a little more direct sun rays, but we're higher up and it's cooler. So if you look at how solar panels actually perform, New Mexico and Arizona can fight about who's number one, but we're either number one or number two. And you talk to folks in the clean energy, it seems like we want to see that same kind of leaning in and that's the kind of thing that that was behind this thinking to similar with wind. The eastern side of New Mexico is incredible for wind and there already is a lot of wind there. But folks were looking for more leadership from the state and you're saying this was part of that thinking. We wanna get ahead of this and we really wanna build on the natural capacities that we have here in New Mexico.

Is that fair to say?

Yeah, absolutely. And one of the things about the film industry in New Mexico is, if you think about it, it took 10 years to really build that industry sector. And it took hundreds of millions of dollars in financial support. And right now we don't have that time with these sectors. Right. So we need to really. We need to jump in, give it everything that we've got, you know, And I think that the Tech and Innovation office sets us up to be able to do that.

Awesome. Is there somebody specific you think, like, knowing what you know about the Tech and Innovation office? Is there a type of entrepreneur or somebody you say, hey, this describes you? I really. I mean, you might say anybody can get a hold of the Tech and Innovation office, but who would you say it's most equipped to help right now?

I think it's probably most equipped and will be one that's fully staffed up to help the folks in those strategic sectors that I mentioned. So aerospace and space, biosciences, clean energy. And I also put water, you know, some of the water technologies in there, and then advanced computing. You know, that's artificial intelligence, quantum cybersecurity. There's. There's a lot to that. And the other thing is there's a lot of synergy and sort of crossover between those sectors. So it's really not nice because you can find the little niche areas where something intersects, whether it.

Actually a great example is sort of some of the space energy companies that we have and solar programs. So I would say any company, even if it's an existing company in New Mexico that has 50 people and has been here for 10 years, I think the Tech and innovation office, I think, number one, they can benefit from talking to all sorts of companies here in New Mexico. What are some of the challenges, opportunities, gaps that exist? How can the state be a better partner? But then also, if you're just starting out and you want to commercialize technology, the. To the Tech and Innovation office, they're there to, you know, help make connections. Right. Who do you need to be working with at Sandia or Los Alamos? Do you have a partner with one of our research universities? Are you encountering problems with the permitting and regulation process? Can you apply for grants, things like that?

Great. I'll put a link to the Technology and Innovation office and then those nine kind of buckets that they're particularly looking to help so that folks can reach out. One of the many other things that you do, Meredith, is this conference that's coming up that we wanted to let our listeners know about. It's called Building an Advanced Energy Ecosystem. Tell us a little bit about this conference. If I understand correctly, this would be the third year. Go back to why'd you launch it? And then we'll talk about what does it look like now.

All right, Another favorite topic of mine. So when I my first legislative session, I was fortunate that Speaker Brian Egolf appointed me to the House Appropriations and Finance Committee as well as House Energy, Environment, Natural Resources. I know nothing, or at the time knew nothing about energy. But one of the things that I was willing to do is learn about it, talk to everyone, absorb different perspectives. And that first session we were dealing with some pretty complicated topics. You know, just take community, solar, right? I mean, sometimes things sound simple, but when you really get into the nitty gritty and you're particularly if you're talking about energy and electrons and, you know, grids and all of those things, it's actually really the potential for the legislature to enact a policy that has unintended consequences, I felt was very high. So after my first session, I really committed myself to learning as much about energy as I could. So listening to tons of podcasts, I was fortunate.

I got to be a part of the Legislative Energy Horizons Institute. But my favorite learning exercise was going to the MIT Energy Conference. I have now been to three of them. I've even taken my 16 year old daughter because I, you know, I just love it so much. And what stood out to me about the conference was it was apolitical. There was no partisan agenda. It was all about technology, where it was, who was investing, working with the Department of Energy to commercialize these things. It was based on science and evidence.

I felt that when we are making decisions in the state legislature, I want to know what's the science behind it. I don't want to be influenced by the left or the right. I don't want ideology being a part of that. Because for me, climate change is real and I want to help us do the best we can to mitigate or solve. So I, you know, I came back from that conference and I, you know, I was just telling everyone how great it was. But most of my colleagues are not in a position to just go to different energy conferences around the country or world. So, you know, I was having lunch with some friends, two of whom were in the energy industry. And you know, we just decided to have, have a conference, bring the discussion to the legislature and to policymakers.

We have world class experts right here in New Mexico at Sandia and Los Alamos. You know, we, they're just people that we could reach out to and rely on to give us that insight. And you know, so we just kind of launched into it. So. Great.

And that was three years ago. And how has it evolved over these three years as you're looking forward to the conference here in September? Again, it's September 14th and I'm sorry, 15th and 16th. So how has it evolved and what's going to be different about the conference this year?

Oh, all right. So our first conference, I mean, worked out better than I ever could have imagined. But you know, the first time I would say we had a small planning group and we didn't have, we didn't have our team fully, fully baked until part way through. But we have, you know, over the course of the years, I think we've got a pretty good system going where we have sort of a core group that organizes the panel discussions. We've got a fundraising committee, an agenda committee, logistics. But what we do is we really, you know, we sort of brainstormed the ideas that we felt would be timely and useful for folks in New Mexico to be talking about. And then, you know, one person takes on one panel from the organizing committee. And so this year we've got, let's see, we've got about 12 panels and they range from critical minerals for energy security, geothermal grid flexibility, wildfire mitigation, just sort of a range of topics, but topics that are pertinent to New Mexico either are energy companies or policymakers or researchers.

And I think we've gotten a good group of people focused on that. We also have added in more workshops for folks. One of the things that we wanted to be able to do is have, have a couple of sessions that are really interactive questions and answers. One of those this year is tapping into the national laboratories. Right. So for the startups in New Mexico, how do you access resources at the labs? How do you commercialize technology? What are some of the things that you can do? We're going to have one on carbon capture and storage. So we passed legislation this past session to sort of facilitate that. And this will be a great opportunity for New Mexico tech to talk to different stakeholders about how that process is going.

So the workshops, we're expanding that. But then I think one of my favorite and newest developments that we have is what we're calling chain reaction. And this is our Speed networking opportunity. And so this sort of, the idea for this came out of a couple conversations that we were having with folks helping, helping startups. Right. There were a lot of questions of, you know, who do we talk to at the Environment Department? How do we go about getting this done? Right. And so we wanted to make it easy for companies that are already here that maybe have questions or a startup that's looking to build a pilot project here in New Mexico, have everybody that they might need to talk to at the state in one place. Right.

Help them make those connections so that they don't have to ask 10 different people who to go to. We're helping to facilitate those introductions so they know who they need to talk to from the state land office or Department of Workforce Solutions or Economic Development. Right. We're giving, we're, we're providing the accessibility and the information on the front end to sort of smooth the bumps out of the road.

Solicitors have a couple more questions for you about the conference and I want to get your feedback on suggestions for entrepreneurs who are already in New Mexico and those who are thinking of coming here. But before we do that, I just want to take a quick break and hear a word from our sponsor. If you got the chance to interview over 300 of the world's top social entrepreneurs and impact investors, you'd have to be pretty clueless not to learn something. Fortunately, I've been paying attention. Over the years, some clear patterns have emerged. Balancing profit and purpose isn't optional. It's a strategic advantage. Impact driven business models often break the mold and that's a good thing.

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I am here with Representative Meredith Dixon and we are talking about building an advanced energy ecosystem in New Mexico. Big picture question for you, meredith. It's year 10 of the conference, right? You've been going for 10 years making it better A little bit. Each Year. What happens? What, how have you moved the needle in New Mexico with the advanced energy conference? 10 years in.

In 10 years I, or you know, on our 10th anniversary conference. I would really like for the conference to be known nationwide as a place. If you are an advanced energy, renewable, traditional energy company working in water efficiency, this is the place to be to network with folks at our universities, our labs and other startups. The goal is to bring people together to have the conversations that sometimes we just don't have if we're not in close proximity to one another. And so I hope that by year 10 we will have doubled our attendance, be over 500 people. I think that would be wonderful. You know, we've got a great group of sponsors that have really stepped up for the past several years. Obviously love to have more sponsors, but really I want it to be the place that you go if you are doing anything in clean energy, climate tech.

This is your sort of one stop shop introduction for everything New Mexico.

As you know, I'm big fan of that and we're talking about how various things I'm partnered with can collaborate on that. So hopefully we'll have some announcements for that soon. You partnered with a bunch of folks and one of the things that got talked about at tech talks during Atomic 66 was David Perez talking about the Innovation Hub. So another initiative here in New Mexico. Tell us a little bit about the Innovation Hub. I'll get David on the show sometime soon. But that's another example of you looking to proactively build things and what was it like to collaborate on something that I'm not sure New Mexico has seen anything quite like that before.

So one of the things when I was doing research sort of about how states or you know, government entities can support innovation, the idea of the co location is just something that comes up again and again, right? Having the space for startups, you know, both the physical space and having them in close proximity to other folks that they might need suppliers off takers. And so, you know, I had been having conversations with David about hydrogen and some of the different technologies and you know, I'm just really pleased he has taken the idea of building a location, a campus, an innovation hub for a lot of startups. And he has, you know, he's been talking to a number of different people, has some great partnerships going for that. So I, you know, I think that's one of the things that New Mexico needs. We need more space for our startups where they can access equipment that they can't buy on their own. For instance, or where they can walk down the hall and talk to someone who has, you know, a different type of experience and can help solve a problem.

So with all these initiatives, Meredith, and you're, you know, one of the folks who's oftentimes in these conversations before they're even available to the public. Right. What would you want our New Mexico based entrepreneurs to know about what's happening in this ecosystem, the energy ecosystem, the innovation ecosystem. And you know, it's a different time. We've talked about that inflection point. What would you want somebody who's here now and is, you know, trying to make sense of where we're going as a state in our support with, for startups and what's likely to be different going forward. You know, the state hasn't always been as, not the state government, but us as a community, us as New Mexico. We haven't always been as helpful to startups as I wish.

And many founders have, I'll say that out loud, and I think that's changing. What do you want startup founders to know about where you think New Mexico is going as it relates to our homebred New Mexico born and grown startups?

I'm really interested in making sure that our New Mexico born and bred startups understand that their success is I think equally important to everything that we do. Right. So a lot of times I think people talk about recruiting new companies or recruiting this giant manufacturer who's going to bring a thousand jobs. But we need to have the small businesses working on developing new technology and we're fabulous. We've got so much talent here in New Mexico and I think it's really important for folks to know that we need companies of all sizes and types within this advanced energy ecosystem to make it succeed. I also think that it's important for people to know that this is a multi year commitment. We're fortunate that the governor has assembled an exceptional team that is dedicated to deploying the money that we have and supporting companies. She has an economic advisor who I think has been in this startup world, the Secretary of Economic Development was with the Chamber of Commerce before and so really has a good understanding of what businesses need.

So I think it's important that folks know that this state is committed to this endeavor over many years. This is not just a one time infusion of capital or one office that we're creating. I think there's really a movement within state government to support all of our entrepreneurs. I do think it's also important that people provide feedback, share with legislators and the agency, what are the challenges that you're encountering? And be really specific. When people say, oh, regulations are a problem, or permitting is a challenge, we need to know exactly what part of that is the problem, how can we fix it? And I think we want to fix things. We want to make New Mexico easier and more efficient to do business. That's not to say that we're going to loosen standards or anything, but we can streamline, get things done faster without sacrificing safety. And so we just need to hear from folks, I think, on a continuous basis, what's going well, what do we need to tweak? You know, how can we work together?

Great. And then likewise, what do you want to say to those founders, those in leadership and companies? We had a number of them who came to TechTalks at Atomic 66. They were sitting in the audience because they had heard something cool about New Mexico. Things are changing here. Several adjacent state founders were sitting in the audience. I know because they reached out to me and they told me they were coming and we connected with them. And they're. They were really impressed.

They really like what they saw. And they're in this kind of doing their calculus. Are they? It's a big. It's a big decision to move your company to another state. That's a huge decision, right?

Yeah.

And New Mexico is in the running in a way, again, if you go back five or 10 years, at least in the startup world, I'm hearing about us being in the running much more often than you would have heard five or ten years ago. I lived in New Mexico since 1993, but my business up until about three years ago was 98% not in New Mexico, even though I've lived here since 93. Because, you know, the economy has changed now quite a bit of my business is in New Mexico, so I have that personal experience as well. For a founder who's looking at New Mexico and it is in the running and they know where we've been and they see that there's some change. What do you want to say to that leader?

So, you know, I could sort of list off all of the wonderful incentives and attributes that New Mexico has, but there are two in particular that I think are worth noting. Number one, New Mexico is unique in its accessibility. Right. You're as. As an individual or a constituent living in New Mexico. You're really close to government. You know, our state legislature is open. We are available.

Similar, you know, the state investment council. Everyone in, I think, in this community and in These positions listens to folks and if you're having a problem, I think someone will be there to help you. Right. So I think accessibility of electeds in particular is one big thing. The second thing is because we are a small state in terms of population, I think you can be a big fish in a little pond, right? California, you might be a little fish in a big pond, but here, you know, you can, you can make such a difference. One person. That's what I'm finding with the legislature and I think that startups have that opportunity as well.

I could hang out with you all day, Meredith, and I know you're really busy and people can come to the conference and they can find out more. But as we're starting to wind down, is there something you were hoping that we would cover and we haven't touched on it yet?

You know, I think we've, we've sort of had a wide, wide ranging discussion. One of my favorite things about the conference is seeing people make connections, you know, so for instance, if there's a carbon capture company that comes to town for the conference, connecting them with a legislator or a company in. And this is one of the things that happened in San Juan county where they want to inject CO2 into coal beds seams. Right. Helping those people meet the person that they need to connect with, I think that's so satisfying. And one of the reasons that I love the conference, I think the more people that are there and talking to other people, the more ideas that we have, the more opportunities for new projects. So that's definitely one of my favorite aspects about the conference.

Great. And remind us when it is again.

Great. So the Building and Advanced Energy ecosystem conference is September 15th and 16th. That's a Monday, Tuesday. And information about the conference registration folks can find it at NM Women Lead New Mexico Women Lead is the organizing entity that pulls together all of the pieces for the conference. So nmwomenlead.org great.

And there will be a link in the show notes. Go check it out. I'll be there. I'm looking forward to it. And Erin, thank you so much for being on the show today and thank you for all your great work for New Mexico.

Thank you, Paul. It's been wonderful. I really, really appreciate this. Thank you.

So listeners, go check out the show notes. Go check out the coverage. Check out the state Technology and Innovation office and all the other links will be in the show notes. Just a reminder, we love listener suggested topics and guests. If you have an idea, like half of our guests come from you the listeners. Now somebody says, hey, you should interview so and so. And I'm like, great. So go take a look at the Aware Printers website on our contact page.

It has three simple guidelines of the kind of stories we're looking to tell. And send in your idea. Lastly, I want to say thank you so much for listening. Please take really good care in these intense times and thank you for all the positive impact that you're working for in our world.

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