N.M. Admin. Code § 17.5.410.11 - BUDGET PAYMENT PLANS

A utility shall offer a budget payment plan to its residential customers. Such plans must be approved by the commission and must contain the following provisions at a minimum.

A. The budget payment plan shall provide the residential customer with a method of levelizing the bill for utility service. It shall be designed to avoid the accumulation of an unpaid balance which will be burdensome to pay in a single payment.

B. The budget payment plan shall be available to any residential customer who is then either current in payments for utility service or who has entered into and is complying with a settlement agreement or an installment agreement at any time during the year, without regard to the residential customer's length of service with the utility. Should a chronically delinquent residential customer fail to pay the amount specified in the budget payment plan, the utility may remove that residential customer from the plan and withhold the plan from that residential customer for up to twelve (12) succeeding months. A utility may also petition the commission for an order permitting it to offer its budget payment plan at specified times only or for less than a prospective twelve (12) month period upon a showing by the utility that offering such a plan at and for times specified in 17.5.410 NMAC will result in an undue financial burden to the utility.

C. In determining one (1) year's budget payment plan the computation shall be specific to each residential customer. If the residential customer has been served by the utility at the same location for the previous year, the budgeted payment should be based on the residential customer's actual use for the previous year and may be adjusted for known price changes, bill averages and normalized weather conditions. If the residential customer has not been served by the utility during the previous year at that location, the budgeted payment should be based on the actual use at that location for the previous year and may be adjusted for known price changes, bill averages and normalized weather conditions, as applied to the residential class of customers or similar residences.

D. The specific methodology of the plan shall be approved by the commission and shall be nondiscriminatory.

Notes

N.M. Admin. Code § 17.5.410.11

17.5.410.11 NMAC - Rp, 17.5.410.11 NMAC, 7-1-11