What is the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission?
New Mexico residents and businesses are paying hundreds of dollars a month for utility services like electricity and gas. So who’s making sure those prices are reasonable?
The responsibility is largely in the hands of the three regulators serving on the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission, a state agency with jurisdiction over a slew of companies and cooperatives affecting New Mexicans’ everyday living costs.
“The Public Regulation Commission serves New Mexico by ensuring safe operations and reliable utility services at fair, just and reasonable rates consistent with the state’s legal, economic, environmental and social policies,” the PRC’s mission statement reads.
One of the major sectors the PRC has jurisdiction over is utilities. The commission regulates electric companies and cooperatives, natural gas companies, investor-owned water and sewer companies and propane companies.
That includes New Mexico Gas Co. and the Public Service Company of New Mexico, some of the largest utilities in the state.
Both companies are undergoing processes to change their rates charged to customers in order to meet energy needs. PRC regulators have the final say in the cases.
Another hot topic for utilities is the clean energy transition the state is requiring over the next couple of decades. New Mexico’s regulators ensure utilities are meeting environmentally conscious goals and modernizing aging power grids.
“Regulatory caseload continues to grow, as does the need for the NMPRC to engage in regional and national conversations,” the commission’s 2024-2026 strategic plan states.
Pipeline safety is another significant oversight sector. The PRC’s Pipeline Safety Bureau conducts inspections on over 48,000 miles of intrastate pipelines, according to the PRC’s website, and the PRC is responsible for enforcing state and federal regulations for oil and natural gas pipeline safety.
The PRC also oversees telecom industries, like cell phone providers and local exchange carriers, as well as transportation sectors, such as ambulances, taxis and towing companies. However, the commission’s transportation duties will transfer to the New Mexico Department of Transportation starting in July, following legislative approval earlier this year.
Three appointed officials currently lead the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission: Chair Pat O’Connell, Gabriel Aguilera and James Ellison.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in late 2022 and early 2023 appointed all three men in a new system New Mexico voters approved in 2020. New Mexicans used to vote for the officials that would fill the seats of the former five-member commission, but the 2020 constitutional amendment instead put that responsibility in the hands of the governor and decreased the number of commissioners.
In 2023, O’Connell, Aguilera and Ellison started their six-year terms. Their terms will run out in 2029, though they can apply to serve one more six-year term. The decision will then be up to a new governor, since Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s second term ends in 2027.