Entries in Public Regulation Commission (5)
Greenwashing Exposed at Florida Power and Light
Wednesday, June 25, 2008 at 05:10PM 
Florida Power and Light calls it their “Sunshine Energy Program”, but until last week, the Miami Florida-based electric utility has repeatedly refused to turn over documents showing how it spent the $10 million dollars it collected from ratepayers for the program. The utility has been inviting its customers to add a charge on their monthly bill to develop solar power in the state.
After a nine-month probe, regulators finally got their hands on the details of the program, and shed a little sunshine on the matter: It turns out that the utility spent three quarters of the money on green marketing and public relations.
It seems that convincing the public that you are “green” while you are operating more than 5,000 megawatts of nuclear generation is an expensive proposition. So what did the utility do with $2 million dollars that was left over after paying for its green-washing campaign? Most of it went to buying renewable energy credits from out of state companies, including from a Texas wind farm owned by (get this) Florida Power and Light. Asked to justify using Florida ratepayer money to buy out-of-state renewable energy that it already owned, a spokesman for the company explained that the purchases took place through a third party broker. Huh?
Note to New Mexico readers: FPL built the wind farm for PNM's "Sky Blue" program. Time to audit that program too?
(See the video that includes this story.)
Albuquerque Asks for Reconsideration of PNM Rate Case
Wednesday, June 18, 2008 at 08:28PM 
In local news here in New Mexico, the Albuquerque city council is joining other large consumers of electricity in asking the Public Regulation Commission to re-hear the case that allowed the state’s largest utility – Public Service Company of New Mexico – to raise its rates. The Commission has already heard the case twice: the first hearing took 15 months, but PNM complained that the $33 million dollar award it was given wasn’t enough. The commission re-opened the case and quickly tripled the award – one commissioner admitted that his support for tripling the award was based in part on a statement from Governor Bill Richardson saying that PNM needed the money. That would be OK if the Governor’s office had been a party to the case, but it wasn’t. It is unknown whether the request for rehearing will point out that mistake.
Commission to Rule on PNM Rate Increase
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 at 07:12PM 
New Mexico’s largest utility, PNM, was back in front of the State Public Regulation Commission last week requesting another increase in electricity rates. Last month, the commission wound up a 15 month hearing, and allowed a 6.3 percent increase in rates – less than half of what PNM had asked for. The company filed a motion for a rehearing in which it threatened to appeal the case to the state Supreme court. The commission promptly docketed another case and hosted just three additional days of testimony. PNM is asking for terms that would allow it to raise rates as needed to cover higher costs for the fuel and power it purchases. The impact of such a rule could be enormous, particularly on low-income New Mexicans. The State Attorney General, charged with protecting ratepayers, appeared at the hearing but spoke in favor of the utility rather than on behalf of ratepayers. Four of the five commissioners were absent for most or all of the three-day proceeding.
A decision in the case is expected tomorrow.
