UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE
SECURITES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest events reported) May 1, 2000
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April 25, 2000
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PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY OF NEW MEXICO
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(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
New Mexico Commission 85-00019030
--------------------------- File Number 1-6986 ----------------------
(State or Other Jurisdiction ------ (I.R.S. Employer
of Incorporation) Identification) Number)
Alvarado Square, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87158
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(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
(505) 241-2700
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(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)
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(Former name, former address and former fiscal year,
if changed since last report)
<PAGE>
Item 5. Other Event
The following is the Company's press release announcing the New Mexico Supreme
Court decision.
N.M. Supreme Court Overturns PNM Gas Rate Order
ALBUQUERQUE, NM, April 25, 2000 - The New Mexico Supreme Court has ruled in
favor of PNM, Public Service Company of New Mexico (NYSE:PNM), in overturning a
$6.9 million rate reduction imposed on the company's natural gas utility by
state regulators in 1997.
The company has not yet calculated the potential financial impact of the court
decision. PNM had supported a $13.3 million rate increase when the case was
originally filed.
Although the court upheld certain portions of the gas rate case order by the
state's former Public Utility Commission (PUC), it labeled other significant
sections "arbitrary and capricious." The five-member court vacated the entire
order as "unreasonable and unlawful," because certain disallowances ordered by
the PUC unreasonably hindered PNM's ability to earn a fair rate of return.
Unless any of the parties in the case ask the Supreme Court for a rehearing, the
case will be remanded to the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission, the
regulatory body that replaced the PUC in 1998.
The case was the second PUC gas rate decision overturned by New Mexico's high
court in recent weeks and the latest of several PUC cases PNM has won on appeal.
The decision is significant because it demonstrates the Supreme Court's support
of fair treatment for utility investors, said PNM General Counsel Pat Ortiz.
"In its opinion in this case, the court repeatedly emphasized the need to
properly balance the interests of customers and shareholders," Ortiz said. "This
decision re-emphasizes what the court has done recently in reversing punitive
decisions of the old PUC. If investors are not treated fairly, we can look to
the Supreme Court for a remedy."
PNM operates a combined electric and gas utility serving approximately 1.3
million people in New Mexico and sells power on the wholesale market. Avistar, a
wholly-owned subsidiary of PNM, operates an advanced meter servicing business in
California and Nevada, offers energy and water management solutions for
government and institutional clients in the Southwest, and is assisting
e-commerce provider AMDAX.com in launching an Internet-based energy auction
system. PNM stock is traded primarily on the NYSE under the symbol PNM.
<PAGE>
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY OF NEW MEXICO
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(Registrant)
Date: May 1, 2000 /s/ John R. Loyack
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John R. Loyack
Vice President, Corporate Controller
and Chief Accounting Officer
(Officer duly authorized to sign this report)
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