 |
|
Contact PNM | About PNM | PNM News |
|
|
||
My Bill |
My Home |
My Business |
My Safety |
My Community |
My Environment |
PNM Fund |
Careers |
Español |
New PNM Electric Rates Will Be Phased In Albuquerque: PNM today received approval from the N.M. Public Regulation Commission for new electric rates. The average PNM residential customer, who uses around 600 kilowatt hours a month, will pay $4.71 more a month for electricity. To ease the impact on customers, the change will be phased in so that average monthly bills will increase by about $2.11 starting July 1 and another $2.60 in April 2010. Some business customers will also see increases that vary by customer class. The increase reflects a credit to customers for revenues received by PNM from the sale of sulfur dioxide allowances through a cap-and-trade program. The increase will not affect PNM customers in Silver City, Lordsburg, Bayard, Alamogordo, Tularosa and Ruidoso. Even with the increase, PNM rates remain 16 percent below the national average rate, 19 percent below the regional average, and at the midpoint for New Mexico. “To offset rising energy costs, we offer ways to help our customers save,” said Pat Vincent-Collawn, PNM president and Chief Executive Officer. Today, PNM residential customers can take advantage of discounts for compact fluorescent light bulbs at participating retailers, potentially saving between $5 and $13 a year for each bulb, depending on the wattage; and a refrigerator recycling program that includes a $30 rebate and free pick-up, potentially saving $175 a year for removing an old, second refrigerator that is not replaced. Certain business and residential customers can receive rewards for participating in a program to lower their power use when demand for electricity on the PNM system is greatest, typically hot summer afternoons. Program details are available at PNM.com/rebates. New energy efficiency programs were approved by the Commission earlier this month and are expected to be available to customers by July. They include two new programs for income-qualified customers and a program to help businesses manage their energy costs. PNM electric rates are based on the cost of generating and delivering power to its 500,000 customers, and must provide sufficient revenue to allow the utility to meet its operating costs and raise capital for system improvements. PNM has added two natural gas power plants to its resource mix and has a contract to purchase power from a third plant so that it can reliably serve its customers. Borrowing costs to fund projects have increased for the company. The PRC also allowed PNM to continue using a fuel and purchased power cost adjustment clause with certain revisions agreed to by its Staff and consumer groups, giving the company the ability to adjust bills annually in response to changes (up or down) in costs for purchasing power plant fuel and power needed to serve customers. Rate adjustment mechanisms such as this are standard throughout the country. The new PNM rates will include the expected costs for fuel and purchased power for the next 12 months, so the factor will be set at zero with no change until July 2010. For information about PNM rebate programs or your PNM bill, call 1-888-DIAL PNM (1-888-342-5766) or visit PNM.com. PNM is a subsidiary of PNM Resources, an energy holding company based in Albuquerque, N.M. PNM provides electric utility service to 487,000 customers in New Mexico. The company also sells power on the wholesale market in the West. PNM Resources stock is traded primarily on the NYSE under the symbol PNM. For more information, see the company's Web site at PNM.com.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
