The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission approved a stipulated agreement which is expected to result in a rate increase for customers.  The stipulated agreement is between New Mexico Gas Company and various consumer and environmental advocates. The gas utility initially asked for the ability to collect nearly $49 million in additional revenue from customers. The […]

The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission approved a stipulated agreement which is expected to result in a rate increase for customers. 

The stipulated agreement is between New Mexico Gas Company and various consumer and environmental advocates. The gas utility initially asked for the ability to collect nearly $49 million in additional revenue from customers. The stipulated agreement reduced that to $30 million.

The rate increase will go into effect in October.

Commissioner James Ellison said he supports the stipulated agreement. He also expressed concerns that this is at least the fourth time in eight years that a rate case involving NM Gas Co. has been resolved through a stipulated agreement.

“I do think it’s also reasonable to ask how many stipulations in a row would we like to see before we’d like to have a litigated case,” he said.

He said the advantages of a stipulation is that it provides a mutually acceptable resolution, especially in cases where there are multiple intervening parties. That makes it unlikely that any party will appeal the ruling.

“But I do think with the litigated case, there is more scrutiny,” he said.

Commission Chairman Patrick O’Connell said he believes there’s value in both litigated cases and in stipulated agreements.

“If you just settle, settle, settle, who knows what’s buried in the trajectory there,” he said.

He said the best way to learn all the details is to have the transparency that a litigated process brings.

“Having said that, I think probably, if we have concerns about that, I think we’ll want to somehow signal that ahead of when they file their next case,” O’Connell said.

Ellison said that NM Gas Co. has indicated that the lower increase in revenue will mean that some of the projects it is undertaking, such as replacing meters, will be done more slowly. However, he said, the utility is not canceling any projects required for pipeline safety or compliance with federal regulations.

“I do take the company at its word here that they’re going to replace the 90-year-old uncoated steel pipeline first, and if they need to delay something, they’re going to delay projects that are more discretionary like the meter replacements,” he said.

Commissioner Gabriel Aguilera said that there is not 100 percent visibility about which projects will be performed using the $30 million additional revenue and which ones are going to be delayed because of the reduced amount in the stipulated agreement.

“But I received some assurance from the explanation that the projects that are needed for reliability and safety will be the ones that will be pursued here,” he said.

At the same time, Aguilera said that he does not anticipate that the projects NM Gas Co. initially requested money for will go away. He said those projects will now be delayed due to the smaller revenue increase.

“I anticipate that they will be back before us with similar if not the same projects,” he said.

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Housing continues to be unaffordable for many renters and homeowners across the state, according to a report released this week by the New Mexico authority tackling the housing crisis.

The New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority, which also announced its rebranding Wednesday to become Housing New Mexico, detailed the findings of its latest Housing Needs Assessment at a news conference in Albuquerque. All of its findings point to ongoing need for people across the housing spectrum, from those living on the streets to those struggling to pay their mortgage, leaders said. 

The authority published the first assessment in 2018, intended as a roadmap for where it should dedicate programs and funding. 

Among the findings in this year’s report: 

• Homelessness increased 50% between 2022 and 2023, based on the federal point-in-time count
• The median monthly rent in New Mexico is $966, a 16.7% increase since 2018
• 44% of renters and 28% of homeowners spend more than 30% of their income on rents or mortgages
• 43% of homes statewide were built before 1980
• 34% of statewide households have someone aged 65 or over. The national rate is 12%
• Median household incomes have grown 22% since 2018, while the median home price increased 53%, from $200,000 to $306,000

‘The need is definitely out there’

Isidoro “Izzy” Hernandez, CEO of the newly rebranded Housing New Mexico, said that the assessment’s findings weren’t all that surprising, but the trends are still troubling. 

“The housing needs assessment findings provide us with a reality of what the affordable housing necessities are in our state,” Hernandez said. 

This year, the New Mexico Legislature gave the authority’s Housing Trust Fund $50 million to spend on an array of housing programs. That is in addition to about $38 million in recurring funding the authority receives.

Legislature and governor tout ‘largest one-time investment in housing’ during 2024 session 

The funding was available beginning July 1 but the authority hasn’t yet received it. Still, citing the high need, Hernandez said it has already allocated about $10 million of it. The authority has more than 300 partners, including local and tribal housing authorities, nonprofits and private lenders. 

“The need is definitely out there,” he said. “The money will go pretty quick.”

He gave a breakdown Wednesday of how the legislative funding would be spent over the next two years, including $20 million to increase home ownership, $26.6 million to build more housing, $10 million to preserve existing housing, with $27 million left over to spend on those programs as needed. 

The money will help fund 13,000 families afford down payments, move into a new home or get repairs in their apartment, Hernandez said. 

He said the authority will again ask for money on top of what it gets in recurring money at the 2025 legislative session, though he didn’t know yet how much.