SENATE BILL 370

53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2017

INTRODUCED BY

William P. Soules

AN ACT

RELATING TO PUBLIC UTILITIES; CREATING A PRESUMPTION, AND A REBUTTAL TO THAT PRESUMPTION, THAT A UTILITY'S LITIGATION EXPENSES IN EARLY RATE CASES ARE NOT PRUDENTLY INCURRED; DEFINING "EARLY RATE CASE".

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. Section 62-13-3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1941, Chapter 84, Section 82, as amended) is amended to read:

     "62-13-3. COSTS.--

          A. Except as otherwise provided by law, in all proceedings before the commission and in the courts, each party to the controversy shall bear [his] its own costs, and no costs shall be taxed against either party.

          B. In [any] a commission rate proceeding in which the utility seeks a change in rates to recover adjusted test-year litigation expenses, there shall be no presumption that the litigation expenses are [prudent] prudently incurred. Nothing in this section shall be construed to create or imply a presumption of prudence for any utility expenditures not addressed in this section.

          C. In a commission proceeding to decide an early rate case:

                (1) there shall be a presumption that a utility's litigation expenses are not prudently incurred; and

                (2) that presumption may be rebutted by a showing of extraordinary circumstances.

          [C.] D. As used in this section:

                (1) "early rate case" means a petition:

                     (a) by a utility for an increase in its rates or charges;

                     (b) filed with the commission sooner than three years following the filing by the utility of a general rate case that resulted in increased rates or charges; and

                     (c) filed after the effective date of this 2017 act; and

                (2) "litigation expenses" means all [attorneys'] attorney fees, consulting fees and other costs of litigation, including in-house expenditures."

- 2 -