A. The natural gas or geothermal utility may include but is not limited to:

(1) in the municipality and within one hundred miles of the municipal boundary, facilities appropriate to the transportation, pumping, storage or purification of natural gas or geothermal waters; and

(2) in the municipality and within five miles of the municipal boundary, facilities for the distribution of natural gas or geothermal heat.

The natural gas or geothermal utility shall include any land or real estate needed for the location of the facilities.

B. A municipality shall not acquire and operate natural gas or geothermal distribution facilities in whole or in part within the boundary of another municipality, as then existing, until the:

(1) public regulation commission issues an order authorizing the acquisition and operation of the natural gas or geothermal distribution facilities; and

(2) other municipality authorizes, by ordinance, the acquisition and operation of the natural gas or geothermal distribution facilities.

C. No formal franchise need be granted by the other municipality, and the ordinance granting the consent of the other municipality:

(1) shall be sufficient;

(2) may be adopted on a single reading;

(3) may become immediately effective;

(4) shall not be subject to a referendum; and

(5) shall be valid for such period of years as may be specified in the ordinance.

History: 1953 Comp., § 14-24-3, enacted by Laws 1965, ch. 300; 1985, ch. 81, § 4; 1993, ch. 282, § 8; 2003, ch. 347, § 1.

The 2003 amendment, effective July 1, 2003, inserted "natural" preceding "gas" throughout the section; in Subsection A(1), substituted "one hundred miles" for "fifty miles"; in Subsection B(1), substituted "public regulation commission" for "New Mexico public utility commission".

The 1993 amendment, effective June 18, 1993, substituted "New Mexico public utility commission" for "New Mexico public service commission" in the section catchline and in Subsection B(1).

City's authority to operate a natural gas utility is derived from the state. Cole v. City of Las Cruces, 1983-NMSC-007, 99 N.M. 302, 657 P.2d 629.

Municipality's authority limited to five miles. — Whatever the meaning of "not limited to" in the introductory clause of Subsection A, these words did not extend the municipality's authority to distribute natural gas to customers more than five miles beyond the municipal limits. City of Las Cruces v. Rio Grande Gas Co., 1967-NMSC-190, 78 N.M. 350, 431 P.2d 492.

Applicability of Tort Claims Act. — The operation of a natural gas system, even though beyond the statutory limitations imposed by Subsection (A)(2), does not deprive a city of the exclusive right, remedy and obligation provision of the Torts Claim Act. Cole v. City of Las Cruces, 1983-NMSC-007, 99 N.M. 302, 657 P.2d 629.

If a city negligently maintains a gas service provided by it beyond the statutorily prescribed five-mile limit, that negligence is actionable and there exists no sovereign immunity to shield it from its liability under the Tort Claims Act. Cole v. City of Las Cruces, 1983-NMSC-007, 99 N.M. 302, 657 P.2d 629.