NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – As part of the closure of the San Juan Generating Station, the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) agreed to offer customers credits worth $115 million. Now, the state’s regulators have approved the plan.
The shutdown of the San Juan coal-fired power plant is part of the state’s transition to renewable energy. But the shutdown has been fraught with controversy. Now, the $115 in credits (and the settlement in which they are laid out), show that those involved in the shutdown are making significant progress in the transition.
For consumers, the news means they’ll get credits towards their electricity bill over the period of a year. PNM spokesperson Raymond Sandoval previously told KRQE that the average residential customer will get a credit of $9.28 per month.
For PNM, the news means the company will issue bonds to help cover the costs of shutting down the powerplant. Those bonds will be repaid with an interest rate capped at 5.5%, according to the New Mexico Office of the Attorney General.
“We are pleased that the New Mexico Supreme Court remanded this case and that the PRC approved the settlement agreement,” Attorney General Raúl Torrez said in a press release. “This settlement was a great achievement for all parties and is in the best interest of ratepayers. The cap on interest rates is an important tool that will protect ratepayers during economic uncertainty.”
