Deadline to intervene in NM Water case is next week

RIO COMMUNITIES — A public hearing for a local utility company’s request to increase sewer connection fees has been scheduled for later this fall.

New Mexico Water Service Company filed for an increase to its sewer utility capacity charge with the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission in April, significantly increasing the cost of new sewer connections.

Although the public hearing is scheduled for Sept. 17 and 18, anyone wanting to participate in the hearing as a party must file a motion to intervene by Tuesday, July 15.

A motion to intervene is the procedure to become a party in the filing, which means a person — or their attorney — can ask the applicant questions in the discovery process, file their own testimony for or against the application, participate in the public hearings and file briefs for consideration in the final outcomes.

The proposed new connection fees will increase a 5/8 inch residential connection from $866 to $11,688 — a 1,250 percent increase. Sewer connections for the company are provided in a range of meter sizes, up to 8 inches, with the largest proposed to increase from $70,880 to $935,040.

According to Dale Tafoya, NMWSC superintendent, new connection costs haven’t increased since the company was acquired in 2002 because there haven’t been a significant number of new connections requests until recently.

With more than 200 requests for new sewer connections at its Rio del Oro plant, Tafoya said the company needs to increase the plants capacity, which will cost about $2.8 million. The increased connection fees will offset the cost of the expansion.

NMWSC operates two wastewater treatment plants in Valencia County — the Rio del Oro plant and a second plant in the city of Rio Communities. The RC plant has about 1,250 customers within the city and in the Rio Grande Industrial Park south of the city, while the RDO plant serves about 1,550 customers in communities such as Eastland Hills, Las Maravillas, Pasitos, Manzano Vista and Cypress Gardens.

Since NMWSC filed its application, three motions to intervene have been filed. The city of Rio Communities filed in May, and a Valencia County developer and three individuals also asked to be made parties to the case in June.

The Vermillion Lake Land and Cattle Company has begun development of 105 new homes in Eastland Hills, west of Cypress Gardens, on the county’s east side. The new development is within New Mexico Water’s service area and Vermillion will be directly impacted by the new fees, if approved by the PRC, the motion reads.

Peralta attorney Steven Chavez also filed a motion to intervene on behalf of three individuals — Jessica Rasband, Eric Rasband and Russell Mauricio — who own vacant land in existing subdivisions in the company’s water and sewer service area.

The three have applied for or attempted to apply for water and sewer service from New Mexico Water for homes they intend to build on their properties, the filing says.

Chavez writes that although the increase proposed by NMWSC is currently suspended from taking effect, the PRC issued an order in May allowing the company to increase the connection fee through the PRC’s Rule 19 “line extension” policy.

“Although Rule 19 is a policy applicable only to circumstances in which NMWSC has to extend their lines to provide water and/or sewer services, NMWSC is circumventing the NMPRC and broadly applying Rule 19, increasing connection rates by 1,200 percent to (the three property owners) regardless of whether line extensions are necessary or not,” Chavez argues in the motion.

He goes on to say the three have been charged the new fee for connections even though water and sewer lines to their vacant lots already exist and do not require any line extensions for their connections.

Chavez claims New Mexico Water is using Rule 19 “illegitimately, and unjustifiably as a pretext to circumvent the NMPRC process to increase connection fees on new customers.”

In its response to Chavez’s motion, New Mexico Water writes the increased fees apply only to new development and do not apply to existing sewer customers.

“NMWSC’s records show that there are no water meters installed at the properties ... and that service connection fees for these lots have never been paid. Rasband and Mauricio concede in their own motion they are not existing customers but ‘prospective new customers,’” the response reads.

Referencing the PRC decision in May, NMWSC notes two of the complaints filed about special contracts issued pursuant to Rule 19 were from Rasband and Mauricio, and the special contract the two requested to enter into includes the fee necessary to cover the costs of new connections.

The PRC found the charges were “consistent with” the rule, which authorizes the company “to determine the cost of line extensions necessary to provide service to new developments.”

The response says the PRC found it did “not have jurisdiction over the specific cost components in the utility’s itemized estimates for these infrastructure extensions. Consequently, customers requesting new service connections are responsible for reimbursing the utility for these costs as stipulated under the current rules.”

“NMWSC will continue to work with Rasband and Mauricio to address any concerns they may have regarding the revised (fees),” the response concludes. “But each and every new connection and customer must pay the actual cost of connecting to the sewer system including the upgrades necessary to increase capacity necessary to serve new growth.”

Anyone wanting to file pleadings documents or testimony in this case will need to serve copies on all parties involved, the PRC staff, as well has hearing examiners Christopher P. Ryan and Patrick Schaefer at Christopher.Ryan@prc.nm.gov and Patrick.Schaefer@prc.nm.gov.

Filings must be in a PDF format and have optical character recognition enabled. Filings must include an electronic signature and be sent to the PRC’s record management bureau at prc.records@prc.nm.gov.

Anyone whose testimony is filed in this case must attend the public hearing and submit to examination under oath unless otherwise determined by the hearing examiners.

A public hearing will be held at 9 a.m., Wednesday, Sept. 17, and Thursday, Sept. 18, to hear and receive testimony, exhibits and legal arguments about NMWSC’s application. The public hearing will take place online via Zoom and be streamed live on the PRC’s YouTube channel.

Feedback in the case can be given without becoming a party through written and oral comments. Public comments are not taken during the evidentiary hearing because they are not evidence, however they are reviewed and considered by commission staff.

You may send written comments before the commission takes final action by sending the comment, which must specifically reference Case No. 25-00035-UT, to prc.records@prc.nm.gov or Commission Records Management Bureau, 142 West Palace Ave. #300, Santa Fe, NM 87501.

The commission may be reached by telephone at 1-888-427-5772 if there are questions about how to submit written comments.