Court delay on PNM merger cost NM many, many jobs
The recent news from the Supreme Court ruling on March 18 regarding Avangrid is particularly disturbing to IBEW 611.
Our union members are the men and women that work every day to build and maintain the renewable energy sector. There were several comments in the court’s ruling that pertain to the proposed merger of Avangrid with PNM.
What the court said:
The court agreed with Avangrid’s argument that the discovery sanction contained in the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission’s final order was improperly broad.
The court expressed concerns that Iberdrola, Avangrid’s parent company, was also wrongfully included within the PRC’s discovery sanction finding.
The court criticized the PRC for failing to explain why all joint applicants should be liable for the discovery sanction, and failing to explain what specific orders they did not follow in relation to the discovery sanction; and
The court provided its analysis rejecting the New Energy Economy’s legal argument on the discovery sanction issue.
The court explained that under New Mexico law, if any part of a PRC final order is determined to be incorrect or improper, the entire final order must be vacated and sent back to the PRC.
What this means for New Mexico is that if the Supreme Court had ruled in a more timely fashion, oral arguments were held in September 2023, the case would have gone back to the PRC and by now the merger would have likely been approved.
New Mexico’s inefficient regulatory system has once again failed New Mexicans. We have successfully pushed PNM’s best suiter away.
What we will never see are the hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs that IBEW members along with other hardworking New Mexicans would have received.
The $300 million in benefits to the state that would have come as part of the merger agreement have also evaporated.
Our union membership is committed to seeing New Mexico thrive and earn its title as being the most renewable energy state in the nation.
But we will never get there if we drive great companies away, and we keep allowing business as usual to be the way things are done here.