2006 New Mexico Statutes - Section 62-17-6 — Cost recovery.

62-17-6. Cost recovery.

A.     A public utility that undertakes cost-effective energy efficiency and load management programs shall recover the costs of all the programs implemented after the effective date of the Efficient Use of Energy Act through an approved tariff rider.  Program costs may be deferred for future recovery through creation of a regulatory asset, provided that the deferred recovery does not cause the tariff rider to exceed the limits imposed by this section.  The tariff rider for any utility customer shall not exceed the lower of one and one-half percent of that customer's bill or seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) per year except that, upon application by a public utility with the advice and consent of the entity designated by law to represent residential and commercial utility customers, the commission may approve a tariff rider in excess of one and one-half percent for customers other than large customers and may approve a tariff rider in excess of the lower of one and one-half percent or seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) per year for a large customer that consents to such a rider.  The commission shall approve such applications upon finding that the proposed energy efficiency and load management programs are  cost-effective and that the cost recovery proposal is just and reasonable.

B.     The tariff rider shall provide for the recovery, on a monthly basis or otherwise, of all reasonable costs of approved energy efficiency and load management programs.

C.     A tariff rider proposed by a public utility to fund approved energy efficiency and load management programs shall go into effect thirty days after filing, unless suspended by the commission for a period not to exceed one hundred eighty days.  If the tariff rider is not approved or suspended within thirty days after filing, it shall be deemed approved as a matter of law.  If the commission has not acted to approve or disapprove the tariff rider by the end of an ordered suspension period, it shall be deemed approved as a matter of law.  The commission shall approve utility reconciliations of the tariff rider annually based upon recovery of the reasonable costs of the utility's programs.

D.     The commission shall ensure that there are no cross-subsidies between a public utility's energy efficiency and load management activities and the public utility's supply-side activities and shall ensure that the existence of a tariff rider does not permit a public utility to earn an excessive rate of return.