PRC Chair Reflects On 2020 Legislative Session

Public Regulation Commissioners. Courtesy/PRC

By THERESA BECENTI-AGUILAR
PRC Commission Chair

The PRC Commissioners have worked hard in 2019 at reaffirming the Commission’s commitment to the public interest

We have sought to restore the public’s trust after the preceding decade at the PRC. We have a very good consumer relations division, work well with all utility companies and have been scrutinizing telecommunication companies to ensure they remain in compliance.

In July 2019, the PRC held its first “Rural Networks Conference” in Farmington. The purpose of this conference was to bring together the public and telecommunication companies to examine the companies’ service territories, revenue sources, plans for broadband and determine whether telecommunication deployment could be improved.

Commissioner Valerie Espinoza has fought tirelessly for the consumers. She knows many elected leaders in New Mexico and works well with individuals across party lines, whether republican, democrat, or independent. She held every company accountable. She encouraged commissioners to hold utility companies accountable so that New Mexico ratepayers are treated fairly. I see Commissioner Espinoza as a commissioner who was instrumental in significantly improving the PRC these past seven years.

Commissioner Jefferson L. Byrd – Vice Chair, Commissioner Byrd works well with all PRC commissioners and his perspective is to protect the people that pays utilities. He analyzes telecommunication companies. He sees firsthand how certain telecommunication companies utilize the funds they receive from federal and state governments. He works in his district alongside Federal Communications Commission. Commissioner Byrd works closely with the FCC commissioners from Washington, DC, and we had the opportunity to be invited as commissioners to tour the Indian country telecommunication services. I believe Commissioner Byrd is a champion to the Commission, as well.

The Commission has worked to hire new staff leadership including new division directors and the work that they deliver at the PRC is exceptional. This was evident in the astounding work put into the 2020 legislative session. .

Lastly, I want to thank all the PRC employees for the work that they do. They work weekends and early morning hours to meet the deadlines.

I cannot be more proud of the agency that I am a part of, as we are striving to meet utility companies’ goals by issuing decisions on their applications for renewable energy resources, energy efficiency, and rate cases. We are doing our best to make New Mexico a better place to live.

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