A. The intent and purpose of this section is to encourage lower costs of natural gas for New Mexico consumers by providing competition in natural gas markets through contract carriage. Lower fuel costs are an integral part of New Mexico's economic development efforts because they preserve existing jobs, facilitate expansion of the state's businesses and provide incentives for new industry to locate in New Mexico.

B. The commission shall, by rule or order, authorize and require the nondiscriminatory and nonpreferential transportation of natural gas by any person subject to the jurisdiction of the commission for a seller or purchaser of natural gas to the extent of available capacity and subject to Subsections C and D of this section.

C. The commission may, in its discretion, impose such terms and conditions on the transportation of natural gas as may be necessary to safeguard deliverability and operational efficiency and to prevent undue hardship and anticompetitive conduct by a public utility.

D. The rates and charges for the transportation of natural gas under this section shall be just, reasonable, nondiscriminatory and subject to approval by the commission.

E. For purposes of this section, "transportation" means exchange, backhaul, displacement or any other means of transporting and includes gathering.

F. A public utility shall be prohibited from the marketing and brokering of natural gas for delivery within New Mexico under this section. This prohibition shall not exclude a public utility from transporting natural gas for an affiliated corporation. Any contract to transport natural gas for an affiliate shall be an arms-length agreement containing no terms that are unavailable to other-end users, gas brokers or marketers.

G. The commission, upon a finding that a public utility is in violation of this section, may impose upon the utility a civil penalty not to exceed an amount three times the damages established by the complainant in the commission proceeding and issue such orders, including but not limited to a cease and desist order, to assure the nondiscriminatory and nonpreferential transportation of natural gas.

History: Laws 1985, ch. 8, § 1; 1987, ch. 93, § 1; 1993, ch. 282, § 29.

Compiler's notes. — Sections 62-6-4 to 62-6-26.1 of the Public Utility Act are still effective as the repeal of Chapter 62, Article 6 by Laws 1998, Chapter 108, Section 82, effective July 1, 2003 Chapter 108, Section 82 was repealed prior to taking effect by Chapter 23, Section 1, Laws 2003. Although Laws 2003, Chapter 336, Section 8, amended Laws 1998, Chapter 82, as amended, an amendment of a repealed section is ineffective. See Quintana v. N.M. Dep't of Corrs., 100 N.M. 224, 668 P.2d 1101 (1983). Laws 2003, Chapter 416, Section 5 also repealed Laws 1998, Chapter 108, Section 82, as amended, a second time, however, that repeal is of no effect as the section had previously been repealed by Chapter 23, Section 1, Laws 2003.

The 1993 amendment, effective June 18, 1993, made a stylistic change in Subsection F, and substituted "The commission" for "The public service commission" at the beginning of Subsection G.

The 1987 amendment, effective June 22, 1987, inserted present Subsection A and relettered the former subsections; in Subsection B, inserted "and nonpreferential" following "and require the nondiscriminatory" and substituted "Subsections C and D" for "Subsections B and C"; in Subsection C, added "and anticompetitive conduct by a public utility" at the end; in Subsection D, inserted "nondiscriminatory" following "shall be just, reasonable"; and added Subsections F and G.

Law reviews. — For article, "Regulatory Reform of the U.S. Natural Gas Industry: A Summing Up," see 27 Nat. Res. J. 841 (1988).