New Mexico Administrative Code
Title 17 - PUBLIC UTILITIES AND UTILITY SERVICES
Chapter 1 - UTILITIES GENERAL PROVISIONS
Part 2 - UTILITY APPLICATIONS
Section 17.1.2.10 - APPLICATIONS FOR NEW RATES
Universal Citation: 17 NM Admin Code 17.1.2.10
Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 18, September 24, 2024
A. General: This section applies to all filings seeking new rates, except as otherwise provided by statute or by commission rule or order.
B. Filings seeking new rates:
(1) Proceedings involving new
rates shall be initiated by advice notice notifying the commission of the
utility's intent to implement new rates by a certain date which may not be less
than 30 days after the filing of such notice.
(a) The utility shall file with the advice
notice direct testimony and supporting exhibits in written form, including any
rate filing package required by commission rule or order.
(b) In a general rate case the utility shall
also file a petition setting forth the concise statement, supported by direct
testimony and exhibits, required by Subparagraph (c) of Paragraph (2) of
Subsection B of
17.1.2.10 NMAC.
(c) All advice notices shall conform to the
requirements of Schedule of Rates, Rules, and Forms, 17.1.210 NMAC.
(d) The utility shall serve a copy of the
advice notice on the attorney general and all counsel of record and pro se
parties in the utility's last rate case at the time it files the advice notice
with the commission but need not accompany the copy with testimony and
exhibits.
(2) The utility
shall submit the following with its filing.
(a) A copy of the notice to be sent to
ratepayers and published pursuant to Subsection C of
17.1.2.10 NMAC. At the time of
submission the notice shall be complete except as to the date, time, and place
of the hearing and the deadline for intervention, which information will be
provided to the utility before it sends the notice to newspapers and
ratepayers. The notice shall be in the form prescribed by the commission and
shall be subject to approval by the commission or presiding officer as to form.
The commission or presiding officer shall provide the date, time, and place of
the hearing and the deadline for intervention and issue its approval of or
corrections to the form of notice within 20 days after the commission issues
its order suspending the proposed rates and assigning the matter to a hearing
examiner, if such assignment is made.
(b) A statement comparing the new rate or
rates with the present rate or rates, which statement shall contain the
information required in Subparagraphs (a) through (e) of Paragraph (2) of
Subsection C of
17.1.2.10 NMAC.
(c) In general rate cases, a concise
statement supported by the direct testimony and exhibits identifying:
(i) whenever the utility proposes to change
the ratemaking treatment upon which the present rates are based, each proposed
change, the reasons for the proposed change, and the impact in dollars of the
proposed change on the rates being requested; and
(ii) any extraordinary event or circumstance,
known or projected, which materially alters the utility's operating or
financial condition from the condition existing during the utility's test
period in its last rate case.
(3) Failure to abide by the requirements set
forth in this subsection may be deemed grounds for rejection of the
filing.
C. Notice of hearing:
(1)
Notice to
general public: A utility filing for new rates shall cause notice of the
hearing on the proposed rates to be published in a newspaper of general
circulation available in every county where the utility provides service and in
such other counties as the commission or presiding officer by order may
determine.
(a) Such notice shall be published
within 40 days of the date of the order of the commission or presiding officer
setting the date, time, and place of the hearing and approving the form of
notice.
(b) The notice shall appear
at least once and shall contain the information set forth in Paragraph (2) of
Subsection C of
17.1.2.10 NMAC.
(c) The utility making the application for
new rates shall bear the cost of publication.
(d) The utility shall ensure that an
affidavit of publication is filed promptly upon publication of the
notice.
(2)
Notice
to ratepayers: Every utility seeking a change in rates shall notify
affected customers of the pendency of the application for new rates. Such
notice shall be given no later than 40 days after the date of the order of the
commission or presiding officer setting the date, time, and place of the
hearing and approving the form of notice and shall include the following
information:
(a) the amount of the change
requested, in both dollar amounts and percentage change;
(b) the customer classifications to which the
rate change will apply;
(c) the
present rates and the proposed rates for each customer class to which the
proposed rates would apply;
(d) for
residential customers without demand meters, the present bill and the
anticipated bill for each of the following levels of consumption or closest
reasonable equivalent units:
(i) for electric
service: 0 kwh, 250 kwh, 500 kwh, 750 kwh, 1,000 kwh, and 2,000 kwh;
(ii) for gas service: 0 therms, 50 therms,
100 therms, 200 therms, and 300 therms;
(iii) for water service: 0 gallons, 5,000
gallons, 10,000 gallons, 15,000 gallons, and 25,000 gallons; and
(iv) for sewer service: 0 gallons, 5,000
gallons, 10,000 gallons, 15,000 gallons, and 25,000 gallons, or fixed charge if
applicable;
(e) a
statement that the rate changes stated by class and, for residential customers,
by consumption levels are for informational purposes only and that the final
rate design may vary the rates ultimately charged to each class and for each
consumption level;
(f) the
commission case number assigned to the proceeding and the schedule ordered by
the commission or presiding officer for the proceeding including the date,
time, and place of hearing as well as other procedural dates established by the
commission or presiding officer together with the further statement that
interested persons should contact the commission for confirmation of the
hearing date, time, and place since hearings are on occasion
rescheduled;
(g) the statement that
any interested person may examine the rate filings together with any exhibits
and related papers that may be filed at the main office of the utility or at
the offices of the commission in Santa Fe, and indicating the addresses and
telephone numbers of both the utility and the commission;
(h) a statement that a person may intervene
by filing a motion for leave to intervene pursuant to this rule on or before a
date to be stated in the notice, such date to correspond to the deadline
established by this rule or ordered by the commission or presiding officer
pursuant to this rule;
(i) a
statement that any interested person may appear at the time and place of
hearing and make a written or oral comment at the hearing pursuant to this rule
without becoming an intervenor, but that the comment will not be considered as
evidence in the proceeding;
(j) a
statement that this rule will apply to the proceeding except as modified by
order of the commission or presiding officer in the proceeding; and
(k) a statement that further information may
be obtained by contacting either the utility or the
commission.
(3) The
commission or presiding officer may by order require such other notice of the
proceeding as is deemed proper under the circumstances.
(4) Failure to comply with this section may
result in a dismissal of the application.
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