New
Mexico Register / Volume XXXVII, Issue 5 / March 10, 2026
TITLE 17 PUBLIC
UTILITIES AND UTILITY SERVICES
CHAPTER 11 TELECOMMUNICATIONS
PART 29 INSPECTION
FEE
17.11.29.1 ISSUING
AGENCY: The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission.
[17.11.29.1 NMAC - N, 3/10/2026]
17.11.29.2 SCOPE: This rule
applies to all telephone and transmission companies subject to the commission’s
control and jurisdiction with respect to their rates or services.
[17.11.29.2 NMAC - N, 3/10/2026]
17.11.29.3 STATUTORY
AUTHORITY: Section 63-7-20 NMSA 1978.
[17.11.29.3 NMAC - N, 3/10/2026]
17.11.29.4 DURATION: Permanent.
[17.11.29.4 NMAC - N, 3/10/2026]
17.11.29.5 EFFECTIVE
DATE: March 10, 2026, unless a later
date is cited at the end of a section.
[17.11.29.5 NMAC - N, 3/10/2026]
17.11.29.6 OBJECTIVE: The objective
of this rule is to implement a transparent process for adjusting the inspection
fee and notifying telephone and transmission companies of adjustments.
[17.11.29.6 NMAC - N, 3/10/2026]
17.11.29.7 DEFINITIONS: In addition to
the definitions provided in Section 63-7-20 NMSA 1978, the following
definitions shall apply.
A. Definitions beginning with “A”: [RESERVED]
B. Definitions beginning with “B”: [RESERVED]
C. Definitions beginning with “C”: [RESERVED]
D. Definitions beginning with “D”: [RESERVED]
E. Definitions beginning with “E”: [RESERVED]
F. Definitions beginning with “F”: [RESERVED]
G. Definitions beginning with “G”: [RESERVED]
H. Definitions beginning with “H”: [RESERVED]
I. Definitions beginning with
“I”: “inspection fee” means the fee required by Section 63-7-20 NMSA 1978 to
be paid annually by a telephone or transmission company and that is equal to a
percentage of the company’s gross receipts from business transacted in New
Mexico during the preceding calendar year.
J. Definitions beginning with
“J”: [RESERVED]
K. Definitions beginning with “K”: [RESERVED]
L. Definitions beginning with “L”: [RESERVED]
M. Definitions beginning with “M”: [RESERVED]
N. Definitions beginning with “N”: [RESERVED]
O. Definitions beginning with “O”: [RESERVED]
P. Definitions beginning with “P”: [RESERVED]
Q. Definitions beginning with
“Q.”: [RESERVED]
R. Definitions beginning with “R”: [RESERVED]
S. Definitions beginning with
“S”: [RESERVED]
T. Definitions beginning with “T”: [RESERVED]
U. Definitions beginning with “U”: [RESERVED]
V. Definitions beginning with “V”: [RESERVED]
W. Definitions beginning with “W”: [RESERVED]
X. Definitions beginning with “X”: [RESERVED]
Y. Definitions beginning with “Y”: [RESERVED]
Z. Definitions beginning with “Z”: [RESERVED]
[17.11.29.7 NMAC - N, 3/10/2026]
17.11.29.8 INSPECTION
FEE ADJUSTMENTS:
A. The commission may in its
discretion, or upon request by utility division staff or a telephone or
transmission company, annually increase, decrease, or maintain the inspection
fee subject to the limitations provided in Subsection C of 17.11.29.8 NMAC and
Subsection A of 17.11.29.9 NMAC.
B. Fee adjustment procedure:
(1) The commission may require utility
division staff to submit to the commission a review of the inspection fees
collected during the previous calendar year and to propose, no later than May
1, an adjusted inspection fee to be collected during the current calendar year.
(2) In the event the commission adjusts
the inspection fee to be collected during the current calendar year, then the
utility division staff shall prepare a form for telephone and transmission
companies to use to calculate the fee due.
(a) Utility division staff shall post
the form on the commission’s website and shall email the form to each telephone
and transmission company no later than June 30.
(b) A telephone and transmission
company is responsible for paying the inspection fee due regardless of whether
the telephone and transmission company receives the form from staff.
(3) If the inspection fee is adjusted,
the newly adjusted fee supersedes the baseline fee as provided in Section
63-7-20 NMSA 1978 and any previously adjusted fee.
C. A telephone and transmission
company shall pay the inspection fee due during the current calendar year no
earlier than July 1 and no later than July 31.
D. Cap:
Percentage increases to the
inspection fee shall not be greater than the prior year’s increase in the
employment cost index for state and local government as published by the
federal bureau of labor statistics.
[17.11.29.8 NMAC - N, 3/10/2026]
17.11.29.9 SUNSET:
A. The
commission’s authority to adjust the inspection fee shall cease on July 1,
2031, pursuant to Subsection A of Section 63-7-20 NMSA 1978.
B. The cessation of the
commission’s adjustment authority shall not discharge a utility’s duty to pay
the inspection fee at the percentage it is set for calendar year 2031 and
thereafter.
C. The inspection fee as set by the
commission for calendar year 2031 shall carry over to subsequent years.
[17.11.29.9 NMAC - N, 3/10/2026]
HISTORY OF
17.11.29 NMAC - [RESERVED]