PRC Staff Sides with Protesters
The NMPRC will be asked to rule whether the KCEC request for rate increases should be narrowed or remain broad to accommodate staff and protesters. Taos Friction posts KCEC’s Feb. 12 motion to narrow, followed by staff’s Feb. 24 response to broaden.
KCEC is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on attorneys to fight protesters and stop members from discussing alleged losses in diversification. According to protesters KCEC has spent millions of dollars from revenue generated by electricity sales on losing ventures, including Broadband, Propane, Command and Call Centers, as well as Internet services.
Furthermore protesters believe the Coop has intermingled funds and spent millions of dollars for unnecessary Trustee travel and fees during last decade.
KCEC Motion and Excerpt:
On Feb. 12 Kit Carson filed a motion to narrow the scheduled rate examination hearings to the following issues:
Is the proposed split in cost recovery between fixed monthly charges and volumetric charges a just and reasonable rate design?
Is KCEC’s proposed elimination of the inverted block structure for residential rates just and reasonable?
Does KCEC’s proposed rate design punish people willing to conserve energy, so-called “low users”?
Does KCEC’s proposed rate design discourage energy conservation and the installation of renewable generation technologies?
NMPRC Staff Response excerpt:
On Feb. 24th the New Mexico Public Regulation Staff Counsel responded:
“Staff s obligation is to ensure that the proposed rates are designed to recover costs solely related to the provision of electric service to its members. Staff will need to determine that the proposed rates do not recover costs associated with KCEC’s diversified business activities, and that KCEC’s TIER, OTIER, and DSC ratios do not include debt associated with these diversified activities. The Order reflects this understanding when it found that just cause exists to investigate KCEC’s residential rates, “including but not limited to” the specifically identified issues.”