Is PRC still ‘dysfunctional’ with Archuleta in command?
There are signs that commission leader may be helping group achieve stability
When Ernest Archuleta came to the state Public Regulation Commission as chief of staff nearly two years ago, calling the agency “troubled” would have been charitable.
Commissioners on the five-member body were frequently at one another’s throats, sometimes openly feuding at public meetings. Employees complained about low morale, some claiming commissioners were trying to micromanage the staff. Reinforced by memories of past commissioners embroiled in scandal and sometimes even legal trouble, much of the public — and even some of the commissioners — viewed the PRC as dysfunctional.
And when Archuleta — at the time a top administrator at the state Department of Transportation — took the job with the commission, he was on thin ice from the get-go. Two of the five commissioners voted against his hiring.
“When you step into a situation like that, you understand that you have to prove yourself,” said Archuleta, 57, a licensed engineer. “It’s been challenging, but I’ve tried to bring some stability. … I think we’re on the right path. I’ve always wanted the opportunity to run an agency.”
Some knocking on wood might be appropriate here, but things seem to have calmed down considerably at the PRC. And some commissioners — even the ones who voted against him — say much of the credit should go to Archuleta.
“He’s doing excellent,” Commissioner Lynda Lovejoy, D-Crownpoint, said in an interview last week. “What impresses me the most is that he stays out of politics.”
Staying out of politics doesn’t necessarily mean Archuleta avoids the Roundhouse. He said he asked the Legislature for a 13 percent increase in the commission’s budget; it received an 8.9 percent bump.
“He’s very well-liked at the Legislature, and that’s very good for the PRC, especially for our budget,” said Lovejoy, who cast one of the no votes when the commission decided to hire him.
Derided by Lovejoy in 2016 as someone who didn’t “seem to have the leadership skills to be a self-decider,” Archuleta has proved his worth to her.
Soon after Archuleta began working at the commission, Lovejoy said, “I sat down with him and expressed that I’d made a prejudgment about him and that I was wrong.”
The other vote against Archuleta in 2016 was Commissioner Patrick Lyons, R-Cuervo, who also has been turned around. “He’s doing a great job,” Lyons said. At the time Archuleta was hired, the position had been open for months. Archuleta’s predecessor, Vincent Martinez, resigned suddenly in August 2015 after several commissioners criticized a lawsuit the agency filed against The New Mexican in a failed attempt to stop publication of coal supply contracts
and other “confidential” documents related to the San Juan Generating Station near Farmington.
The commission first offered the job to Ken Ortiz, then chief of staff for the Secretary of State’s Office. But Ortiz decided not to accept the position after Lyons publicly criticized him and questioned the size of the salary he was being offered. Ortiz was offered $130,000 a year. Archuleta makes slightly less than that, $128,000 a year.
Commissioners say Archuleta operates the PRC with an engineer’s sensibilities. He worked for the Department of Transportation for 22 years, spending the last 12 as the agency’s Operations Support Division director. The experience has come in handy, because running the PRC and its 154 full-time employees on a day-to-day basis is complex: The commission regulates public utilities, telecommunications and transportation businesses in New Mexico.
It also is responsible for the Pipeline Safety Bureau, plus the staff of the state Firefighters Training Academy in Socorro.
Commissioner Valerie Espinoza, D-Santa Fe, one of the three who supported hiring Archuleta, said she doesn’t regret that vote.
“He’s doing a good job with what he has,” she said. “It’s very difficult having to serve five commissioners.”
Espinoza also said Archuleta’s background as an engineer has been helpful and lauded his work with the private Animas Valley Land & Water Co. in the Farmington area. In 2016, thousands of residential water customers found brown, murky water coming from their taps. About 7,000 residents were under a “boil alert” for months because of problems in the system.
“Ernie went over there, and he evaluated the system and was able to detect the problem,” Espinoza said.
Not all is sunny, of course. The commission remains a target for its dealings with the Public Service Company of New Mexico, a utility that — in the eyes of its critics — is as large as it is controversial.
Asked whether Archuleta has made a difference at the commission, a spokesman for PNM said: “We’re regulated by the PRC, so we don’t think we should comment.”
Mariel Nanasi, executive director of the clean energy advocacy group New Energy Economy, is a frequent intervener in utilities cases and a chief critic of the commission. While she’s not blaming Archuleta personally, she said, she believes the PRC still tends to favor corporate interests over the good of the people.
“We need big changes,” she said. “We’ve got to get leaders strong enough to make these changes.”
Steve Michel, chief of policy development for Western Resource Advocates — an environmentalist group that also frequently intervenes in cases before the PRC — was more sanguine.
“Everything I’ve seen, things seem to be running smoothly,” Michel said. “I’m not sure I’d be one to know if they weren’t. But I haven’t heard any complaints about him.”
For his part, Archuleta freely acknowledges he hasn’t solved all the problems the commission faces.
One major issue is the large number of vacancies in top positions in the agency.
Currently there are six high-level positions open, including three division directors. Archuleta is serving as acting director of the Administrative Services Division as well as chief financial officer of the agency. Also unfilled are the positions of Utilities Division director and Consumer Relations Division director.
The position of state fire marshal was vacant for about a year, until Archuleta hired Don Shainin for the job earlier this year.
Archuleta, as well as the commissioners interviewed, said the problem with recruiting division directors is that salaries are too low to compete with the private sector.
“It’s hard to find qualified people willing to work for what we can offer,” Espinoza said.
For a time, Archuleta even served as acting state fire marshal.
“I’m not a firefighter,” he said. “If someone asked me to put out a fire, the house would probably burn down. That was an adjustment for me.”
According to the state Sunshine Portal, 28 of 135 classified positions in the agency were unfilled as of early February. The vacant jobs include four of 15 inspectors for the Fire Marshal’s Office.
“There’s about an 18 percent vacancy rate now,” Archuleta said. “We still don’t have the budget for a full staff.”
But he said he’s fortunate that the commission’s employees have been committed to their jobs.
“I’m grateful the staff has supported me,” he said.