By Kevin Hendricks
If your PNM bill lately looks more like an educated guess than a meter reading, state regulators want to hear about it, in person, in Alamogordo.
The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission will host a community town hall from noon to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 29, at the Sgt. Willie Estrada Memorial Civic Center. Customers who can’t make it can watch a livestream. The commission wants residents to ask questions and share firsthand experiences with billing problems tied to PNM’s meter-reading shortage.
PNM told the commission in July that temporary workforce shortages had hampered meter reading in Alamogordo and Ruidoso. By August, the shortage had spread to other PNM service areas across the state. Fewer readers meant more estimated bills and, for some customers, bills that arrived late.
The commission’s Advocacy Staff has monitored PNM’s efforts to stabilize operations and improve customer communication since then, according to a commission press release. Regulators say public input will help them understand local impacts and push for appropriate fixes.
Customers who want to dig into the paperwork can search case number 26-0000147 on the commission’s PRCe360 portal. Customers stuck in a billing dispute can call the commission’s Consumer Relations Division, which can connect them with PNM through an informal complaint. If that fails, customers can file a formal complaint.
PRC town hall on PNM billing issues
When: Tuesday, Sept. 29, noon–2 p.m.
Where: Sgt. Willie Estrada Memorial Civic Center, 800 E. First St., Alamogordo
Livestream: youtube.com/@NMPRC_Open_Meetings
Case filings: PRCe360 portal, case No. 26-0000147 e360.prc.nm.gov/portal/public/#/public/nm-prc/en/home
Consumer Relations Division: prc.nm.gov/consumer-relations/