The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (NMPRC) called a secret meeting June 28, specifically to discuss PNM’s abandonment of San Juan Generating Station Units 1 and 4, committing yet another violation of the Open Meetings Act.
The meeting was held without informing the public about the recommended decision of the hearing examiner or any opposition to that decision, according to a press release from the New Mexico Business Coalition (NMBC).
The move drew the ire of Carla Sonntag, president of the NMBC.
“The NMPRC’s closed door meeting shows a deliberate disregard for transparency and adherence to the Open Meetings Act," Sonntag said in the release. "The excuse of secret deliberations to avoid a potential lawsuit could be used by any governmental organization, but it is the decision that often prompts lawsuits not how they arrive at it.”
The incident comes after the NMPRC violated the Open Meetings Act twice earlier this year, according to the New Mexico Sun, debating issues that could have been discussed in a public forum.
The NMBC filed complaints about those violations and is waiting for the results of a review of those complaints, according to their release.
“Every citizen should be outraged by any governmental agency operating like a secret cabal,” Sonntag said. “There is a reason that the Open Meetings Act was passed into law and no agency should be above the law in its operations.”
In February, the Albuquerque Journal reported that Attorney General, Hector Balderas, agreed to look into the NMPRC’s role in slowing the approval needed for additional electric generation capacity to prevent rolling blackouts with the closure of the San Juan Generating System and the Public Service Company of New Mexico looming.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration noted that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in 2019 signed a law that set news goals for the state to produce 50% of its electricity from green resources by 2030, 80% by 2040 and 100% by 2045.
The NMBC is a nonpartisan grassroots group that focuses on enhancing the business environment to drive job growth and improve quality of life for New Mexico residents, according to its website.