AI Generated Opinion Summaries

This summary was computer-generated without any editorial revision. It is not official, has not been checked for accuracy, and is NOT citable.

Facts

• The City of Las Cruces appealed a final order from the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission, which approved the 2018 Annual Renewable Energy Plan between El Paso Electric Company and the Camino Real Landfill to Energy Facility. This plan allowed El Paso Electric to purchase renewable energy certificates from Camino Real despite the costs exceeding a reasonable cost threshold established to protect ratepayers from excessive renewable energy costs (paras 2-3, 5-8).

Procedural History

• [Not applicable or not found]

Parties' Submissions

• Appellant (City of Las Cruces): Argued that the final order violates the consumer protection provisions of the Renewable Energy Act by approving a plan that exceeds the reasonable cost threshold, thereby imposing undue costs on ratepayers (para 11).
• Appellee (New Mexico Public Regulation Commission): [Not applicable or not found]
• Interveners-Appellees (El Paso Electric Company, Four Peaks Energy, LLC, and ENERGYneering Solutions, Inc.): El Paso Electric contended that the threshold is not an absolute cap but rather a point beyond which the Commission cannot require utilities to purchase renewable energy, suggesting flexibility in the Act to promote renewable energy while allowing utilities to recover reasonable procurement costs (para 16).

Legal Issues

• Whether the final order approving the 2018 Plan, which allowed costs exceeding the reasonable cost threshold, violates the consumer protection provisions of the Renewable Energy Act (para 11).

Disposition

• The Supreme Court of New Mexico reversed the final order approving the 2018 Plan and remanded the case to the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (para 22).

Reasons

• VIGIL, Chief Justice, with C. SHANNON BACON, Justice, and DAVID K. THOMSON, Justice concurring, found that the final order violated the consumer protection provisions of the Renewable Energy Act. The Act mandates that public utilities must not incur new renewable energy costs that exceed a specified threshold, intended as a protection mechanism for ratepayers. The Court concluded that allowing costs above this threshold without requiring a waiver from the Commission contravened the Act's purpose to protect ratepayers from excessive costs. The decision emphasized that the threshold serves as a limit for incurring new renewable energy costs, and by exceeding this limit without proper justification, the Commission's order failed to protect ratepayers as mandated by the Act (paras 13-21).