New Mexico
New Mexico regulators reject utility's effort to recoup some investments in coal and nuclear plants
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Regulators rejected on Wednesday an effort by New Mexico’s largest electric utility to recoup from customers millions of dollars of investments made in a coal-fired power plant in the northwestern corner of the state and a nuclear power plant in neighboring Arizona.
The Public Regulation Commission’s decision means Public Service Co. of New Mexico customers will not have to bear some costs associated with PNM’s stake in the Four Corners Power Plant near Farmington or in the Palo Verde Generating Station outside of Phoenix. Commissioners said those investments were not prudent.
Overall, residential customers will see a decrease in rates instead of the 9.7% increase that the utility was seeking.
The commission said in a statement that PNM still will be able to collect a reasonable return on its investments while providing reliable service to more than 500,000 customers around the state.
PNM filed a request for its first rate hike in years in late 2022, saying the nearly $64 million in additional revenue was needed as part of a long-term plan to recoup $2.6 billion in investments necessary to modernize the grid and meet state mandates for transitioning away from coal and natural gas.
The utility also had cited the expiration of lease agreements for electricity from the Palo Verde plant and the desire to refinance debt to take advantage of lower interest rates.
Hearing examiners with the Public Regulation Commission who reviewed the case recommended in December that the commission reject costs associated with the sale of leases at Palo Verde to a third party. They also said PNM’s 2016 decision to invest in extending the life of the Four Corners plant wasn’t prudent.
PNM officials said late Wednesday that they were reviewing the commission’s order. The utility has until Feb. 2 to seek a rehearing before the commission.
Consumer advocates and environmental groups were pleased the commission opted to reject some of the costs associated with PNM’s investments.
“The commission recognized that PNM failed to do its due diligence before reinvesting in Four Corners after 2016, when there were clear signs that coal is a costly and deadly fuel,” said Matthew Gerhart, a senior attorney with Sierra Club.
The utility had tried to divest itself from Four Corners by transferring its shares to a Navajo energy company. However, regulators rejected that proposal, a decision that was later upheld by the New Mexico Supreme Court.
Located on the Navajo Nation, the Four Corners plant is operated by Arizona Public Service Co. The utility owns a majority of shares in the plant’s two remaining units.
Navajo Transitional Energy Co. had sought to take over PNM’s shares, saying that preventing an early closure of the power plant would help soften the economic blow to communities that have long relied on tax revenue and jobs tied to coal-fired generation.
The nearby San Juan Generating Station was shuttered in 2022, sending financial ripples through the surrounding communities. PNM had operated that plant for decades.
SANTA FE, N.M. – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham asked Attorney General Raúl Torrez to investigate whether any Drug Enforcement Administration agents broke state law when pills reached New Mexico streets.
In a statement, Lujan Grisham said, “make no mistake: the DEA knew people would die if these pills made it into New Mexico communities.”
The governor also shared a timeline from 2022 to 2025 that she said shows when she asked federal officials for help with New Mexico’s fentanyl crisis and violent crime.
Lujan Grisham said the first request came on June 21, 2022, when she wrote to then-Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray and asked for 50 additional federal agents.
She said she wrote to then-Attorney General Merrick Garland on Sept. 15, 2022, asking for more agents, resources and support for New Mexico law enforcement.
Lujan Grisham said she wrote Garland a second time on Aug. 8, 2023, with the same request.
What came next?
About a month later, Lujan Grisham said she sent Garland a third letter and said New Mexico needed more federal law enforcement to curb violent crime, drug trafficking and human trafficking.
She said her most recent request came on Sept. 4, 2025, when she wrote to former Attorney General Pam Bondi and again asked for additional agents and resources.
The governor’s statement says those requests span several years as she pressed the federal government for more help in New Mexico.
Full statement from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham:
“I am appalled by reporting this week by the Associated Press and Albuquerque Journal that revealed federal authorities made a deliberate decision to let hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills flood into New Mexico communities, despite knowing that fentanyl is so lethal the White House has designated it a weapon of mass destruction.
Let me say that again: the Drug Enforcement Administration watched as 74,000 fentanyl pills were delivered to a mobile home park in Albuquerque, and they did nothing. And that’s just one transaction. Shockingly, the federal government stood by while monitoring shipments, tallying exact pill counts, and watching as these deadly drugs hit the streets.
There are no words to describe how reckless and dangerous these decisions were. Make no mistake: the DEA knew people would die if these pills made it into New Mexico communities, and the agency let it happen anyway. The result: hundreds of New Mexican parents burying their kids. Hundreds of New Mexican kids growing up without stable parents. All while the federal government stood by.
If the justification for letting these pills flood our communities was that it would somehow make New Mexico safer down the road through bigger eventual busts, the results say otherwise. New Mexico now leads the nation in the increase in overdose deaths for the second straight year, despite deaths dropping nationwide.
Today, I wrote to Attorney General Raúl Torrez and asked him to investigate whether any federal agents broke state law when they allowed lethal drugs to remain on our streets, and to prosecute anyone responsible — regardless of whether they are a federal agent or not.
I have spent years working across two administrations — writing letters, traveling to Washington, meeting directly with President Joe Biden and his cabinet, pushing for accountability, asking for more federal agents to be deployed to New Mexico to help fight this crisis.
- On June 21, 2022, I wrote to FBI Director Christopher Wray, imploring the FBI to assign no less than 50 additional agents to New Mexico to stem escalating drug trafficking and violent crime.
- On September 15, 2022, I wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland, requesting that the Department of Justice provide additional federal agents, resources and support to New Mexico law enforcement. We asked the department to match the level of investigative, analytical, and technical resources the FBI had deployed in its Buffalo, NY surge.
- On August 8, 2023, I wrote again to Attorney General Garland, renewing my request that the DOJ expeditiously assign more federal agents to New Mexico.
- On September 7, 2023, I wrote to Attorney General Garland for a third time, reiterating my request once more federal law enforcement support to curb violent crime, drug and human trafficking.
- On September 4, 2025, I wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi, once again requesting additional agents and resources.
I have declared the surge of drugs like fentanyl to be a public health emergency. I have deployed the National Guard to both Albuquerque and Española. While my administration was doing everything we could to stem the tide of fentanyl coming into our state, the federal government deliberately allowed it to flood in.
New Mexican lives are not the federal government’s cost of doing business.
I plan to hold the federal government accountable for this disaster and will explore every possible avenue of action against the federal government to right these wrongs.”
The Canyon Venado Fire has grown to 852 acres east of Clines Corners and crews say wind farms in the area are threatened.
CLINES CORNERS, N.M. – The Canyon Venado Fire has grown to 852 acres east of Clines Corners and crews say wind farms in the area are threatened.
The fire is burning just east of Clines Corners, south of Interstate 40.
It forced the closure of eastbound Interstate 40 at Clines Corners on Tuesday night. I-40 reopened Tuesday night. I-40 is back open but smoke still affects visibility.
“We’re on the side of I-40 so drivers have to be pretty cautious. As far as our establishment itself we’re pretty isolated by the freeway itself as a nice fire break,” said Lincoln Tarantino, Clines Corner general manager.
The fire has burned around 852 acres, up from just 20 at this time Monday.
Crews say the fire is not contained and wind farms in the area are threatened.
New Mexico
Feds allowed millions of fentanyl pills to ‘walk’ on New Mexico streets: DEA Whistleblower
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