The state Public Regulation Commission is refusing to release information regarding New Mexico Gas Company’s suppliers pending an appeal to remove a protective order that shields the information from the public.
The Commission denied an April 12 public records request to inspect all information pertaining to natural gas suppliers contracted with the Company. The denial cites a 2004 utility case in which the Commission approved an order protecting from disclosure the major suppliers, transportation volumes and contract pricing of any gas utility company in the state. This information is protected on a contract-by-contract basis that is identified by any utility as being confidential and is included in the company’s gas supply plan, the order states.
The order states such information could be released on the conditions of confidentiality or after two years from the date of it being filed with the Commission. The Company’s gas supply plan is submitted annually to the Commission, according to the state administrative code.
The Rio Grande SUN appealed the Commission’s denial in May, arguing the confidentiality agreement did not qualify as an exemption from the state Inspection of Public Records Act and that disclosing the Company’s suppliers would not interfere with any potential proceedings.
Commission acting administrative services director and Chief Financial Officer Matthew Lovato responded to the appeal via email stating a separate petition would be required to lift the protective order.
“This petition for removal will allow the Commission to determine if the protective order can be lifted for the information you are requesting to be released,” he wrote.
State law says in order to represent the public interest, the Commission’s Utility Division, which oversees electric, natural gas, renewable energy sources, telecommunications, and water and wastewater systems, “shall present to the Commission its beliefs on how the Commission should fulfill its responsibility to balance the public interest, consumer interest and investor interest.”
Commissioner Jason Marks said the petition process would require each entity involved in the protective order to receive a copy of the petition, including the Public Service Company of New Mexico, Raton Natural Gas Company and Zia Natural Gas Company. New Mexico Gas Company wasn’t a private company when the protective order was established.
Marks said he and his fellow commissioners would then weigh the arguments from the interested parties and become, in essence, judges. He said an exemption has only occurred once in his six-year tenure.
The Commission had not responded to a petition to remove the protective order as of Wednesday (6/1) morning.
A call to Commissioner Jerome Block, who represents Rio Arriba County, was not returned as of Tuesday.
Commission Chief General Counsel Bob Hirasuna pointed out the Commission could release information on the Company’s suppliers from two years ago, since the protective order has lapsed on that information. A public records request for this information was also pending as of Wednesday (6/1).
Company Gas Supply Director Tommy Sanders has said the Company had been purchasing high volumes of gas Jan. 30 in anticipation of a looming cold front, but the evening before widespread gas outages struck Northern New Mexico, the Company didn’t receive a shipment of gas. The following morning, another scheduled delivery failed to appear in the Company’s system. Sanders said those two failed deliveries caused the Company’s pipeline pressure to drop, requiring it to shut off gas to more than 28,000 customers in the region.
Sanders said no communication occurred between the gas suppliers and the Company between the failed deliveries and the shut-off.