The New Mexico Public Utility Commission has authorized Public Service Company of New Mexico to launch a major new program to help small-volume end users take advantage of alternate gas supply sources.
The action follows an investigation by the commission of an offer by the utility to exit the gas merchant function.
Under the new program, small customers can purchase gas from a list of qualified marketers beginning with the first billing cycle for December 1997. The company, under a newly designed transportation tariff, will provide delivery service aimed at "encouraging marketers to offer merchant services to residential and small-volume end users."
While the new program offers an initial term of only one year, the commission cautioned that it is not a pilot program. Pilot program status and associated limits on the number of participants were found unnecessary in a state like New Mexico "where open access already exists." (According to the commission, residential transportation service has been available for more than a decade.)