[Lwvcnmtopics] NM Public Regulation Commission meeting

[Athena Christodoulou]

Thank you for that report on Tri-state and Zia gas. Good to hear Tri-state
was thinking of being reasonable. Co-ops have some of the highest rates
because of their tactics. In the poorest areas. As to gas...time to switch!
going gas-free by '23
Athena

On Thu, May 27, 2021 at 3:26 PM George Richmond <geomrich1 at comcast.net>
wrote:

> The Wednesday meeting was spent largely on the request of Zia Gas Company
> getting NM PRC approval on how to bill its customers for the February
> severe weather which produced a huge spike in gas prices.  As you may
> recall, NM Gas utilities charge for gas at cost and do not make a profit on
> gas.  Because of the cold weather, the price of gas spiked around 100 X
> normal price.  The issue at hand was whether to recover costs in 30 or 60
> months.  Also, can Zia Gas collect the cost of interest on their loan from
> their bank to pay their gas bill.
>
> As Zia Gas will send out June bills  next week, it is important to get a
> NM PRC ruling tomorrow, as Monday is a holiday.
>
> Not all Zia Gas clients used gas in February as some, largely in Dona Anna
> County, use gas for pulling water to irrigate crops and this gas use is
> from March to September.  Thus only clients who used gas in February will
> be charged over a time period.
>
> New Mexico has about 20 electric co ops who buy power to resell to their
> customers.  Tri State is the major power generator.  As you all know, PNM
> is in the midst of dropping coal fired plants for electricity from
> renewable sources.
>
> So, I thought the comment from Tri State would be of interest.  Briefly,
> not only are they ahead in making the change, but their rates are coming
> down!!!
> A MESSAGE FROM DUANE HIGHLEY, CEO
>
> We have reached several significant milestones that advance our
> Responsible Energy Plan goals to be cleaner, more affordable and more
> flexible for our members.* The first of eight projects to add more than
> 1,000 megawatts of renewable resources by 2024 (when 50% of the energy
> consumed in our co-op family will be from clean energy) achieved commercial
> operations in April.* In keeping with our goal to reduce wholesale rates
> to our members,* we announced at the end of April a 4 percent wholesale
> rate reduction over the next two years*. With our rate wholesale
> decrease, some members have already announced their own retail rate
> decrease or increased capital credit refunds. We also completed the
> nomination process for our first-ever "open season," when our
> members could express their interest in self-supplying up to 50% of their
> power requirements. As we move through Tri-State’s rapid transformation, a
> recent ratings report from Moody's Investors Service reaffirmed both our
> investment grade ratings and stable outlook.
>
>
> Today's ABQ Journal has an article on a recent presentation by PNM and
> Avangrid about their proposed merger which should be approved by year end.
>
> If you do not get the paper, you can read it from the ABQ Journal web site.
>
> George Richmond
>
> --
> George M. Richmond
> 152 Juniper Hill Road, NE
> Albuquerque, NM 87122-1913
>
> C: 505-280-2105
> E: geomrich1 at comcast.net
>
>
>
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-- 
Athena Christodoulou
Albuquerque, NM
505-507-1955
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