Dive Brief:
- Public Service Co. of New Mexico (PNM) will cut between 200 and 300 positions if its proposed $123 million rate increase is not approved, the utility told state regulators last week.
- Public Regulation Commission hearing examiner Carolyn Glick recommended a $41 million increase, cutting the request over issues related to obtaining power from the Palo Verde nuclear plant.
- SNL Energy reports the proceeding is growing contentious, with a PRC commissioner accusing Glick of opposing nuclear power, and the hearing examiner saying regulators will need to account for the possibility that PNM is "double-counting" recovery on some generation.
Dive Insight:
PNM's rate case was always going to be a battle, but SNL reports the arguments are now causing fractures within the commission. The news outlet reports on a "highly unusual exchange" between Commissioner Patrick Lyons and Glick, with the regulator arguing the Palo Verde plant has been a strong asset in the utility's portfolio.
Glick reportedly countered she is not opposed to nuclear power, but said regulators will need to decide how to align competing values of the generation, as well as the possibility that PNM has already recovered the value of improvements made at the nuclear plant.
While PNM has already said it would challenge the proposed $41 million rate increase in the state's supreme court, the utility has also indicated such a decision could lead to between 200 and 300 job losses at the utility.
Following Glick's recommendation, PNM Resources CEO Pat Vincent-Collawn said in a statement the company was "deeply disappointed" and said the recommendation "does not represent a fair balance between the interests of customers and shareholders."
According to Vincent-Collawn, the rate case represents a request to recover the $655 million PNM has invested in its system since 2011.
Glick's recommendation would exclude the Palo Verde Nuclear Generation Station Unit 2 capacity from PNM's rate request, in addition to other important items. PNM included it at about $153 million, but the hearing commissioner recommended excluding it now and including the generation in a future PNM rate case.
