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.