PNM urges past-due customers to apply for help now

43,000 face losing their electric services

The tens of thousands of Public Service Company of New Mexico customers with past-due balances should contact the utility as soon as possible to apply for financial aid or to get on a payment plan to avoid having electricity shut off, the company announced in a news release Wednesday.

The warning comes as a shutoff moratorium — which has been in place since early in the pandemic in order to protect customers who have fallen behind on utility bills — draws close to its end.

The utility wrote that, following a vote by the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission to end the temporary protection measure, PNM customers could be facing shutoffs as soon as Aug. 12.

More than 43,000 customers are facing disconnection, the release said.

While the temporary moratorium protected customers from having electricity cut off due to non-payment, those customers still have to pay for all the electricity they’ve used.

“This has resulted in quite a few past-due bills stacking up month after month, and in some customer cases, nearly a year of unpaid PNM bills,” the release said. “As of May 7, approximately 43,413 residential customers, about 8% of 530,000 total PNM customers, are past-due on their PNM bill with an average past-due amount of $469 per customer. Several thousand customers have recently made payment arrangements with PNM to get caught back up on their bills which will help them avoid disconnection.”

PNM customers who need help paying a past-due bill can go to pnm.com/help or call 855-364-2950.

Assistance options include the PNM COVID Customer Relief Fund, the PNM Good Neighbor Fund, the State of New Mexico Emergency Renters Assistance program, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program and others, the release said.