Former NM Gov. Bill Richardson joins board of Henderson company

Susan Montoya Bryan / AP

In this Dec. 22, 2010, photo, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson answers questions about his recent trip to North Korea during an interview in his office in Santa Fe, N.M.

Blue Earth

Blue Earth executives John C. Francis, left, vice president, and Johnny R. Thomas, CEO/president, pose outside the company offices in Henderson Monday, Dec. 17, 2012.  Blue Earth is involved in the clean technology industry with a primary focus on energy efficiency and renewable energy sectors. Launch slideshow »

Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has joined the board of directors of a Henderson clean-energy company.

Blue Earth Inc. announced the appointment today, saying Richardson is a big advocate for renewable energy.

As governor, he required electric utilities to supply 20 percent of their power from renewable sources, and he established New Mexico’s Renewable Energy Transmission Authority, a quasi-state agency that develops transmission and energy-storage projects.

“I’m excited to share my expertise with the Blue Earth team,” he said in a news release.

Richardson served two terms as governor, from 2003 to 2011. Before that, he was secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

He ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 2008 but dropped out after placing fourth in both the New Hampshire primary and the Iowa caucuses.

Blue Earth, based in an office suite on Horizon Ridge Parkway near Green Valley Parkway, has close ties to Richardson’s home state.

CEO Johnny Thomas and Vice President of Investor Relations John Francis, longtime business partners, are rural New Mexico natives.

Francis hails from a family of cattle ranchers and politicians. His father, E. Lee Francis, was lieutenant governor in the 1960s.

Blue Earth is a holding company that acquires businesses, finances their expansion and hopes for profits. It has snapped up projects and acquired firms that retrofit heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems.

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