Gas price increase proposed

New Mexico Gas Co., which supplies the city of Tucumcari, last week filed an application with the state’s Public Regulation Commission a proposal to recover natural gas costs associated with dramatic gas price increases seen during a winter storm in February.

If passed by the regulators, it would mean an average 10% monthly increase to customers’ bills.

The company stated it seeks to minimize the monthly impact to customers’ bills by spreading the recovery of these costs through the end of December 2023 — a longer period than would normally be sought for recovery of gas costs.

“We understand that even with our best efforts to minimize it, this is not a small impact to our customers,” New Mexico Gas Co. President Ryan Shell said. “The costs we faced in February were unprecedented, and the unusual market conditions forced us to pay substantially higher prices for natural gas. Our focus is to minimize the effect of the February 2021 winter event on our customers.”

As a regulated utility, New Mexico Gas passes the cost of gas on to its customers without markup. Gas costs are ultimately paid by customers as part of their monthly bills.

New Mexico Gas proposes to even out the impact to customers’ monthly bills throughout the year. The proposal would result in an increase to the average customer bills in the average range of $2.37 to $8.84 per month, depending on monthly usage. The average increase would be approximately $5.70 per month, or about 10% to the average bill.

New Mexico Gas stated it has established a $1.2 million fund to assist income-qualifying residential customers and small business owners who have fallen behind on their gas bills because of the coronavirus pandemic.

To help customers, its payment centers are re-opening May 3, and it stated it would work with customers to establish payment plans.

Residential customers can also apply for help through the company’s HEAT New Mexico program. Qualified residential customers will receive a one-time payment of $150 toward their gas bill. Small business owners can apply online at http://www.nmgco.com/SmallBusiness/CovidRelief. Those who qualify will be eligible for a one-time credit of up to $250.

For customers seeking to learn more, please go to nmgco.com or reach out to its call center at 1-888-664-2726.

New Mexico Gas also announced Monday it will reopen its 22 payment centers across the state on May 3. The customer walk-in offices, including Tucumcari’s were closed in mid-March 2020.

Customers visiting the walk-in offices can make payments on bills, initiate payment plans or learn about assistance programs available for residential and small business customers. As before, checks can be deposited at payment drop boxes outside each office location.

All visitors to payment centers must wear a face covering. The lobbies will be set up with sanitation stations and social distancing measures, such as floor stickers that display directional arrows and locations where to stand.