Santa Fe County commissioners are exploring the prospect of creating a publicly owned electric utility, citing the need to advance the county’s clean energy goals and ensure grid resiliency.

It is unclear how exactly such a utility would operate, but commissioners — who on Monday evening adopted a resolution approving a study to determine the viability of the idea — said the move is exploratory. Publicly owned utilities are government-run, not-for-profit entities that provide electricity service to the public, often with local elected officials serving in leadership or governance positions.

“We need to do this in the interest of resilience,” said Commissioner Camilla Bustamante. “... If we do have something that were to affect us regionally, we should be able to stand up a utility and sa

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