A grassroots consumer-protection group called New Mexicans Against Avangrid held a press conference today and announced the release of a new report detailing new and scathing evidence against Avangrid and its parent company, Iberdrola. With oral arguments scheduled for next week, September 15th, to determine whether the PRC rightly denied the merger in 2021, this report couldn't have come at a better time.
The content of this report speaks for itself, especially the timeline of scandals and damning findings and fines from regulatory agencies that have taken place in 2021, 2022 and 2023. The report makes clear that our former elected NM PRC Commission made the right decision when it found, unanimously, that the merger with Avangrid would not be in the public interest. The report details harm to Avangrid/Ibedrola ratepayers in the form of efforts to maximize rate increases - requesting $680 million across their utilities in 2023 alone! - egregious and harmful billing errors that continue to cause heartache, stress and financial harm to customers, and aggressive and illegal collections tactics for which the company was found guilty and fined.
The report further describes how the company touts itself as a climate champion even as its largest shareholders include the petro-state Qatar and Blackrock, the largest private funder of fossil fuel infrastructure in the world, and the funding it provides to climate denying politicians, front groups and powerful industry lobbying organizations like the Edison Electric Institute and the American Gas Association that continually block climate action policies and regulations across the nation.
We hope that you will read this report, that you will share it with your friends, and that you will go so far as to email this report to any journalists or New Mexico legislators that you know.