ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - The Latest on Public Service Co. of New Mexico’s rate increase (all times local):
2:10 p.m.
State regulators have approved a rate hike for Public Service Co. of New Mexico’s half a million customers, but it’s not as much as the electric utility had hoped for.
The Public Regulation Commission voted 3-2 Wednesday during a meeting in Santa Fe for a compromise that will amount to an average increase of roughly 10 percent.
The utility had initially proposed a more than 14 percent increase to recover the costs of investments it has made in recent years, including new solar generating stations and the purchase of power from an Arizona nuclear plant.
Concerns raised by environmentalists over the value of PNM’s stake in the Palo Verde plant led a hearing officer earlier this year to recommend that the multimillion-dollar request be slashed by two-thirds.
Commissioners acknowledged it was a difficult decision.
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8:34 a.m.
New Mexico regulators are taking up final consideration of a request by the state’s largest electric provider to raise rates for its 500,000 customers.
The Public Regulation Commission is meeting Wednesday in Santa Fe.
Concerns raised by environmentalists over the value of Public Service Co. of New Mexico’s stake in an Arizona nuclear plant spurred a recommendation over the summer that the multimillion-dollar request be slashed by two-thirds.
The commission had offered to reopen hearings so PNM could provide more information about the Palo Verde nuclear power plant. The utility declined, saying the case has been delayed long enough.
If regulators approve a hearing officer’s recommendation, PNM customers on average would see their bills increase by more than 6 percent, rather than the 14.4 percent requested by the utility.
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