| Status: All residential customers in the
State are allowed to choose natural gas suppliers, but almost no one is
participating. |
Overview: New Mexico has allowed unbundled
gas service for all consumers since the late 1980s. However, almost all
residential customers still purchase their natural gas from local distribution
companies (LDCs), in large part because marketers have been unable to
compete with the LDCs' prices. According to the New Mexico Public
Regulation Commission, 13 residential customers and
2,422 small commercial customers of the State's largest natural gas utility, Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM), were purchasing gas from eight non-LDC suppliers in
December 2008. (As of January 30, 2009, PNM's natural gas operations became under new ownership as New Mexico Gas Company.) Marketers must first complete a "request form" for an on-system transportation contract with PNM, pay a fee of $720, provide a New Mexico tax identification number, and submit appropriate financial records to PNM's risk management department for approval. A customer choice pilot program by PNM was approved by the commission in August 1997 that offered PNM's 400,000
customers a choice of gas suppliers with deliveries starting in December
1997. Even after the commission encouraged marketers to
advertise, only a few customers switched suppliers.
|
| EIA State Data: In 2007, New Mexico had 544,892 residential and 47,710 commercial customers. They consumed approximately 33 and 25 billion cubic feet of natural gas, respectively. The average prices residential and commercial customers paid for natural gas from local distribution companies were $11.99 and $10.00 per thousand cubic feet, respectively. |
| Eligibility and Participation in Retail Choice
Programs: |
Estimated Eligibility and Participation by Customer Class, December 2008
|
Customer Type |
2007 Customer Total |
Eligible 2008 |
Participating
2008 |
|
Total |
Percent
of 2007 Customer Total |
Total |
Percent
of Eligible |
Percent
of 2007 Customer Total |
|
Residential |
544,892 |
544,892 |
100 |
13 |
(*) |
(*) |
|
Commercial** |
47,710 |
47,710 |
100 |
2,422 |
5.1 |
5.1 |
|
Total |
592,602 |
592,602 |
100 |
2,435 |
0.4 |
0.4 |
|
(*) = Less than 0.05 percent.
**Commercial participation numbers include only small-volume commercial customers.
Sources: 2007 Customer Total: Energy Information Administration, Natural Gas Annual
2007 (January 2009). Eligibility and Participation: New Mexico Public Regulation
Commission (February 2009). | |
| |