Utilities Board to consider rate increase

Published on May 31, 2024

The Los Alamos Board of Public Utilities (BPU) will discuss a potential natural gas rate increase to be effective October 1, 2024, at its next meeting. An additional three public meetings, including two public hearings, for changes to the existing natural gas rates are planned.

The initial discussion will take place at the BPU work session on Wednesday, June 5. The BPU will not take any action on rate changes at this meeting. The first public hearing is scheduled for the June 26 BPU meeting. If the BPU approves a proposed rate ordinance at that time, it will be introduced to the Los Alamos County Council on Tuesday, July 9, and a second public hearing will occur at the County Council meeting on Tuesday, July 30. Rate changes must be adopted by the County Council before they can be put into place.

While Council approved rate increases for the natural gas system last year that would go into effect in the fall of 2024 and 2025, an additional increase is necessary and was included in the FY2025 adopted budget.

A recent state gas audit and an associated probable notice of violation resulted in the Los Alamos Department of Public Utilities (DPU) creating a dedicated gas work team and purchasing tracking software to better document gas repairs and monitoring.

Additionally, DPU was recently notified by the New Mexico Gas Company (NMGC) and Conoco Phillips—both providers of natural gas to Los Alamos County prior to distribution by DPU—of increases in their transportation/delivery rates.

The DPU gas rate is made up of two parts: 1) the monthly service fee and 2) the pass-through commodity rate which includes a fixed component and a variable cost-of-gas component. DPU is not proposing changes to the variable cost-of-gas component which changes monthly.

The BPU and County Council meetings will be conducted in person and remotely via Zoom. BPU meetings are at 5:30 p.m. and County Council meetings are at 6 p.m. All four meetings are open to the public. Zoom links for BPU and Council meetings are available on the agendas at the following link: https://ladpu.com/BPULiveProceedings . While typically held in Council Chambers, the June 5 meeting will be in Room 330 of the Municipal Building instead.