Board of Public Utilities Regular Meeting - May 20, 2026
Board of Public Utilities Regular Meeting - May 20, 2026
The Board of Public Utilities (BPU) met on May 20, 2026 at 5:30 PM in the Municipal Building, B&C Room #110. The meeting included presentations on the hexavalent chromium plume, a public hearing on water rate increases, department business on the electric resource pool budget and a budget revision, and reports from board members and the utilities manager. Several votes were taken, including forwarding water rate ordinance to Council and approving the resource pool budget.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of the statement regarding closed session on May 6, 2026 (personnel matter) was approved unanimously.
- Approval of the consent agenda as presented, which included:
- Approval of BPU meeting minutes for April 1 and April 15, 2026.
- Award of Bid No. 26-61 for Tank Piping Upgrades Phase 2 to NM Underground Utilities, Inc. for a total project amount of $607,890.00 plus NMGRT.
- Approval of changes to the DPU Rules & Regulations - Fee Schedule, including an 8% increase in EV Charging Session Fees and addition of hydrant meter rental fees.
Public Comments & Testimony
- David Powell (1732 Ponderosa) expressed concern about the May 8 power outage that affected the entire townsite. He requested an explanation, as a selectively coordinated system should have isolated the fault.
- Tal McCrory (1333 Sage Lou) complimented the DPU water tours, stating they were well-organized and informative.
- Marlene Wilden (repoter, Exchange Monitor) asked about alternative remedies being evaluted for the chromium plume beyond pump-and-treat.
- Joni Arends (Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety) sought clarification on aquifer measurement and the modeling software used (FEHM vs. MODFlow).
Discussion Items
- Presentation on Hexavalent Chromium Campaign (Joel Hebdon, N3B): Provided an update on the plume status and interim measures. The plume does not pose an immediate threat to drinking water wells. The pump-and-treat system has had positive effects when operating, but is currently shut down at NMED direction. The adaptive site management approach was outlined. Board members discussed plume modeling, extraction rates, and the need for continued characterization.
- Public Hearing on Water Rate Ordinance 02-380 (Joann Gentry): Proposed two consecutive 8% rate increases for FY27 and FY28 for residential, multi-family, commercial, county, and school customers. New rates for Pajarito Mountain, LANL bulk water, and irrigation/snow making were also introduced. The ordinance would esablish a new service charge for non-potable water and align rates with cost recovery. A 10-year forecast showes the need to restore cash reserves. The board recommended adoption to Council.
- Electric Resource Pool Budget for FY27-28 (Ben Olbrich): Presented the 24-month budget required under the ECA. Projected allocted costs per MWh are $68.93 (FY27) and $76.72 (FY28) for the pool, and $66.92 and $76.64 for the County. Corrections from a consultant were incorporated. The budget was approved by the ECA Operating Committee on May12.
- Budget Revision 2026-73 (Joann Gentry): Increased transfers from Electric Distribution to Electric Production ($1.6M for cost of power) and from Water Distribtion to Water Production ($750K for cost of water), plus $540,175 in interdepartmental charges. Net impact is an increase in expenditures and decrease in fund balance.
- Utilities Manager's Report (Philo Shelton): Covered Elk Ridge gas line purging, White Rock substation progress, ECA negotiations, recruitment, the May 8 power outage investigation. Dennis Astley explained the outage: a three-phase cable fault at the Aquatic Center led to a cascade due to mis-set relay settings. The fault current was 5,000-ampson each phase. Overhead jumpers melted and a separate fault occured on Cheyenne. Relay settings were corrected.
- County Manager's Report (Anne Laurent): Announced atomic fiber groundbreaking, Longview Drive realignment, summer concerts, and Trinity Drive improvements.
- Council Liaison Report (Ryn Herrmann): Updated on council actions including budget revision approval and project awards.
- ESB Liaison Report (Shannon Blair): ESB heard a presentation on the NM Climate Action Plan, a marketing plan, and is drafting a single-use plastic bag ban ordinance.
Key Outcomes
- Motion passed (4-0) to approve the statement regarding closed session.
- Motion passed (4-0) to approve the consent agenda.
- Motion passed (4-0) to recommend adoption of Water Rate Ordinance 02-380 to County Council.
- Motion passed (4-0) to approve the Electric Resource Pool Budget for FY27-28 and forward to Council.
- Motion passed (4-0) to approve Budget Revision 2026-73 and forward to Council.
- The board acknowledged the utilities manager's report and discussed the power outage investigation.
Meeting Transcript
Alright, we'll welcome everyone tonight to the Board of Public Utilities meeting. I'll call this meeting to order. It's 5 30, and we've got three board members here, so we have oh, four board members here, so we have one super core. Um we do have a new sitting on the board. Alan is up in the beast board and take the opportunity to introduce. There's no Thomas Wyoming. Still about us. So introduce her to the board. Perfect. Well, great, thank you so much. Welcome. Thanks. Thanks for having us keep going straight now. The first item of business is public comment and this is public comment for items that aren't on the agenda. And we'll ask for public comment for each item that's on the agenda as well. Please come forward and uh state your name and your address for your record. We've got three minutes. My name is David Powell. I live at 1732 Ponderosa, and I had the pleasure of serving on the Board of Public Utilities from 2011 to 2016. By way of introduction, I'm a retired professional electrical engineer with about 40 years of experience in design of commercial industrial and utility power systems. So on May 8th, we had an hour and a half power outage. I don't understand the explanations that I saw in the paper. I don't understand how selectively coordinated system, cable fault, which in a selectively coordinated system, only the overcurrent device closest to the fault should open. I don't understand how the entire town site went offline. So I really would like to hear an explanation. Oh, I'll bet you would too. And so that's my comment. Thank you. Thank you so much. I just wanted to mention at the end of the utilities managers report. Dennis Asley's gonna make a report on the outage, so if the member the public wants to stick around for that segment, appreciate it. And if you don't want to stick around, we do record these meetings, so you can find it online also. Any other uh comments? Again, please state your name and address. Good evening. My name is Tal McCrory. I live at 1333 Sage Lou. And the Friday before last, I had the pleasure of going on one of the new VPU water tours. And I just want to compliment you all, folks who ran it. In fact, I think Clay was there for part of it, right? Yeah. He was excellent. It was well put together. They actually took us out and showed us things out there. They explained it in a way that people from the backgrounds could understand. Um I want to thank you all for doing that. I hope you'll continue with. And uh last but not least, they gave out these great water colored MMs. So thank you. Any other public comments here in the room?
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