N.M. Provider Seeks Electric Rate Hike Source: Albuquerque Journal Publication date: 2000-10-06

Southwestern Public Service Cites Soaring Natural Gas Costs Southwestern Public Service says dramatically rising natural gas prices have forced the company to seek a 12.2 percent rate increase for its 106,000 electric customers in New Mexico.

SPS has asked the state Public Regulation Commission to increase the recovery cost portion of customer electric bills starting next month. Texas regulators have already approved an increase on a temporary basis.

An average SPS residential customer, who uses about 530 kilowatt- hours a month, will see about a $4.70 monthly increase if the increase is approved, company spokesman Bill Crenshaw said Thursday.

Industrial customers also would see their bills go up, and the increase would be larger than that for residential customers, he said.

In New Mexico, SPS serves the communities of Tucumcari, Clovis, Portales, Roswell, Artesia, Carlsbad, Hobbs and several smaller towns nearby.

The company also sells power to four regional cooperatives Farmers Electric Coop, Central Valley Electric Coop, Roosevelt County Electric Coop and Lea County Electric Coop. Crenshaw said related increases are likely for cooperative customers.

The cost of natural gas the fuel used to power many electric generators has more than doubled in the past year, he said.

Public Service Company of New Mexico, the largest utility in the state, said it has no plans to ask regulators for a bump in electric prices, a spokesman said.

As part of a deal that resulted in a $34 million rate reduction in 1999, PNM agreed not to raise rates before the electric market in the state is opened to competition, now scheduled for 2002.

Besides, said PNM's Don Brown, the company primarily uses coal and nuclear power and is much less reliant on natural-gas fired electric plants than SPS. PNM has about 360,000 electric customers.

Natural gas-fired electric plants "represent a very small portion of our load," Brown said.

Southwestern Public Service has eight gas-fired stations in Texas that account for about 50 percent of the company's electric generation. Five coal-fired units help hold power costs down, Crenshaw said.

SPS has 410,131 customers in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and New Mexico, he said.

Publication date: 2000-10-06 ) 2000, YellowBrix, Inc.

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), October 07, 2000