An open government advocate says that the actions of the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission violate "both the letter and spirit of the law."
On April 26, the New Mexico Business Coalition (NMBC) filed two complaints with New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas against the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (PRC) for “deliberating” privately on issues that should have been open to the people on two separate occasions.
Shannon Kunkel, executive director of New Mexico Foundation for Open Government (FOG), says this is “a violation of both the letter and spirit of the law and breeds public mistrust in our public institutions.”
Kunkel went into greater detail about the importance of the law.
“The Open Meetings Act declares that all persons are entitled to the greatest possible access to the affairs of government," Kunkel told the New Mexico Sun. "It’s critical that discussions on matters that so greatly impact the lives of New Mexicans be conducted in public view. To improperly close a meeting is a violation of both the letter and spirit of the law and breeds public mistrust in our public institutions.”
According to the Albuquerque Journal, on one occasion that the NMBC described as "egregious," the PRC went into a closed session for several hours wherein they undermined a recommendation from one of their own hearing examiners.
In February 2022, Balderas started an investigation into PRC's role as a bottleneck in green-lighting necessary electric generation capacity to avoid rolling blackouts. New Mexico plans to close the coal-fired San Juan Generating System and the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) confirmed that solar projects, which are intended to replace its capacity, will not be ready by June 30, when the coal plant will be closed.
The Albuquerque Journal previously said that this incident raises major doubts and risks about the best way forward as the state races to transform the power grid to 80% renewable by 2030 and 100% non-carbon by 2045. Though New Mexico has a number of economic development opportunities available, the commission may not be able to harbor the opportunities if it continues its inability to make decisions on additional resources.
Before becoming the FOG executive director, Kunkel, an Albuquerque native, managed digital and social media, as well as outreach and development efforts for Common Cause New Mexico. She initially started with FOG in 2014 when she served as a part-time membership director through 2016.