2023 New Mexico Statutes › Chapter 62 - Electric, Gas and Water Utilities › Article 18 - Energy Transition › Section 62-18-6 - Adjustment mechanism; adjustment procedures; hearing procedures if commission determines adjustment made in error.

A. If the commission issues a financing order, the qualifying utility for which the order is issued may charge all of the qualifying utility's customers an energy transition charge, which shall be allocated to customer classes consistent with the production cost allocation methodology established by the commission in the qualifying utility's most recent general rate case. Energy transition charges shall be assessed consistent with the production cost allocation methodology and the determination of energy and demand costs within each customer class, both of which shall be subject to the adjustment mechanism.
B. The commission shall periodically approve adjustments of the energy transition charges pursuant to the adjustment mechanism approved in the financing order to correct for any over-collection or under-collection of the energy transition charge and to provide for timely payment of scheduled principal of and interest on the energy transition bonds and the payment and recovery of financing costs in accordance with the financing order. Except as provided in Subsection C of this section, the qualifying utility shall file at least semiannually, or more frequently as provided in the financing order:
(1) a calculation estimating whether the existing energy transition charge is sufficient to provide for timely payment of scheduled principal of and interest on the energy transition bonds and the payment and recovery of other financing costs in accordance with the financing order or if either an over-collection or under-collection is projected; and
(2) a calculation showing the adjustment to the energy transition charge to correct for any over-collection or under-collection of energy transition charges.
C. The qualifying utility shall file the calculations described in Subsection B of this section at least quarterly during the two-year period preceding the final maturity date of the energy transition bonds.
D. The adjustment mechanism shall remain in effect until the energy transition bonds and all financing costs have been fully paid and recovered, any under-collection is recovered from customers and any over-collection is returned to customers.
E. On the same day the qualifying utility files with the commission its calculation of the adjustment to the energy transition charge, the qualifying utility shall cause notice of the filing to be given to the parties of record in the case in which the financing order was issued.
F. An adjustment to the energy transition charge filed by the qualifying utility shall be deemed approved without hearing thirty days after filing the adjustment unless:
(1) no later than twenty days from the date the qualifying utility filed the calculation of the adjustment, the commission is notified of a potential mathematical or transcription error in the adjustment; provided that the notice identifies the error with specificity; and
(2) the commission determines that the calculation of the adjustment is unlikely to provide for timely payment, or is likely to result in a material overpayment, of scheduled principal of and interest on the energy transition bonds and the payment and recovery of other financing costs in accordance with the financing order and, based on that determination, suspends operation of the adjustment, pending a hearing limited to the issue of the error in the adjustment; provided that the suspension shall be for a period not to exceed sixty days from the date the qualifying utility filed the calculation of the adjustment.
G. If the commission determines that a hearing is necessary, the commission shall hold a hearing on the proposed adjustment that shall be limited to determining whether there is a mathematical or transcription error in the calculation of the adjustment. If, after a hearing, the commission determines that the calculation of the adjustment contains a mathematical or transcription error, the commission shall issue an order that rejects and corrects the adjustment. The qualifying utility shall adjust the energy transition charge in accordance with the commission's calculation within five days from issuance of the order. If the commission does not issue an order rejecting the adjustment with a determination of the corrected calculation within sixty days from the date the qualifying utility filed the adjustment, the adjustment to the energy transition charge shall be deemed approved.
H. No adjustment pursuant to this section, and no proceeding held pursuant to this section, shall affect the irrevocability of the financing order pursuant to Section 7 [62-18-7 NMSA 1978] of the Energy Transition Act.
History:
Laws 2019, ch. 65, § 6.
ANNOTATIONS
Effective dates.
— Laws 2019, ch. 65 contained no effective date provision, but, pursuant to N.M. Const., art. IV, § 23, was effective June 14, 2019, 90 days after the adjournment of the legislature.