Albuquerque Asks for Reconsideration of PNM Rate Case

 

In local news here in New Mexico, the Albuquerque city council is joining other large consumers of electricity in asking the Public Regulation Commission to re-hear the case that allowed the state’s largest utility – Public Service Company of New Mexico – to raise its rates. The Commission has already heard the case twice: the first hearing took 15 months, but PNM complained that the $33 million dollar award it was given wasn’t enough. The commission re-opened the case and quickly tripled the award – one commissioner admitted that his support for tripling the award was based in part on a statement from Governor Bill Richardson saying that PNM needed the money. That would be OK if the Governor’s office had been a party to the case, but it wasn’t. It is unknown whether the request for rehearing will point out that mistake.