PNM looks to increase rates. How much more could it cost you each month?
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – With increasing costs of inflation, New Mexico’s power bills might also up in price. The Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) is looking to increase its monthly rates beginning in June 2025.
“We submitted our 2025 rate request to the commission on June 14th. The filing is for a future test year running June 1 of 2025 through June 30 of 2026,” said Don Tarry, president and COO of PNM, detailing the potential rate increase during a quarterly earnings conference call for PNM’s parent company in July.
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The New Mexico-based electric utility submitted the proposed rate hike to the state’s Public Regulation Commission back in June. So far, the proposal remains under consideration.
“To help mitigate impacts on customers, we requested a phase in implementation for new rates,” Tarry said in the recent earnings call. PNM is proposing that phased in approach take place over the second-half of 2025 into the first month of 2026.
Under the phased in request, PNM is seeking to charge the average residential customer an additional $11.12 on their monthly electric bill starting in June 2025. Under the same proposal, customers would also have to pay an additional $12.48 starting in January 2026, bringing the total average rate increase to about $23.60 a month for the average residential customer.
KRQE News 13 requested an on-camera interview with PNM about the proposal Wednesday, but was told no one would to address the possible rate increase on-camera. Online, the utility says there are a series of reasons behind the the rate hike proposal, including repairs, upgrades, wildfire risk management needs, new equipment and more.
Before the proposal can be approved, the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission will hold public meetings in November and February. In a January 2024 interview with KRQE News 13 about rate increases, PNM Communications Director Ray Sandoval detailed a lengthy, public process.
“This public process, which can last almost a year to a year and six months, sometimes even two years, actually is what gives everybody the opportunity to kind of look at whether or not those rates are reasonable,” Sandoval said.
The first public hearing on the proposed rate hike is expected to take place on November 7 from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at 1021 Eubank Boulevard NE in Albuquerque.
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