PRC leans on utility with $1M fine

LAS CRUCES (AP) - The state Public Regulation Commission voted to fine a privately owned utility $1 million and assign the bulk of the sanction to the company's president.

Commissioner Sandy Jones said Picacho Hills Utility Co. president Stephen Blanco is liable for 95 percent of the fine while the company is responsible for 5 percent, or $50,000. The fine was levied Tuesday on a 4-1 vote in Santa Fe, with Commissioner Jason Marks dissenting.

Blanco said he plans to appeal to the state Supreme Court.

The PRC assessed the fine after concluding the utility company had violated a number of laws and PRC-issued orders.

The utility serves about 800 water and 750 wastewater hookups in the Picacho Hills area of Las Cruces.

Blanco's dispute with the PRC stems from a proposed effluent pipeline, intended to carry gray irrigation water from ponds at Picacho Hills Country Club to the Rio Grande. The pipeline hasn't been built, despite state directives.

Jones said the fine is an attempt to prompt Blanco and his utility to comply.

"They violated enough rules; the fine is justified," he said.

Jones said if Blanco takes the right steps, he could petition the PRC to waive the fine. Jones also said the decision doesn't obligate Blanco to build an effluent line, and the gray water could be addressed another way as long as it complies with state law.

Blanco said his utility is in compliance and the PRC has no jurisdiction to fine him.

"They're just another regulatory authority with no judicial power," he said.

Marks has said the PRC can issue fines but doesn't have authority to enforce them, something that must be done through the courts.

Blanco said the utility still wants to build the line as part of its 10-year operations plan but said there are hurdles, including developers that owe money but have resisted paying.

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Information from: Las Cruces Sun-News