Public needs to hear all merger evidence

I’M A physician and rely on evidence in making diagnoses and treatment plans. When there’s new relevant evidence, I change the diagnosis and plan accordingly.

That’s what should happen with this case. Given that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, (Public Regulation Commission members) and PNM have already agreed to ask the Supreme Court to vacate the current lawsuit, I’m not expecting you to change your minds about this, but maybe you will remember some of these points made by New Energy Economy, which has become my current favorite charity. That’s been because of the evidence it has been providing, and I have yet to see any point-bypoint reply from either PNM or the merger supporters that touches their critique. Plus, I have a close friend in the electricity industry in Maine who has only a very negative opinion of Avangrid’s performance.

Here’s what I want to share, based on information from NEE:

Due process — The public’s right to substantive due process must include the right to discovery, the requirement that PNM/Avangrid/ Iberdrola prove their merger is in the public interest, parties have a right to cross-examine and refute those assertions with their own sworn testimony, a public hearing must ensue, followed by briefing and the commission’s written determination.

Avangrid/PNM and the (new) PRC’s effort to expedite the merger seems calculated to set up a procedure to avoid the extensive additional evidence that has come to light since the first 2021 hearing, such as: Avangrid has been fined $4.5 million by the state utility regulators of Connecticut for willfully violating a ban on collection efforts during the COVID crisis by garnisheeing the wages of customers who had been unable to pay their bills, resulting in fines of $10,000 per infraction. Avangrid violated the authority’s orders at least 204 times.

The future of our descendents is at stake. DR. GEORGE GREER Santa Fe