Los Alamos board introduces electric-rate ordinance including time-of-use and residential demand charges

The Board of Public Utilities on March 19 introduced County of Los Alamos Code Ordinance 02-365, a package that would raise electric rates and add a residential time-of-use (TOU) and residential demand charge option. The ordinance was introduced for publication and scheduling; the board set a public hearing and substantive vote for its April 16 meeting.

The ordinance, as presented in the staff report, would implement a general increase in rates effective July 1, 2025 (9 percent) and a second step on July 1, 2026 (8 percent). The draft also adds a TOU/demand rate design for residential customers; staff highlighted that the version handed out to the board marks the TOU/demand sections to make it possible to remove them now and consider them separately at a later hearing.

Karen Bridal, the department presenter, outlined the multi-year work leading to the proposal, including consultant rate studies and system design work. Bridal told the board the utility had budgeted $250,000 for implementation costs for software and meter/billing work tied to TOU and residential demand features. She also summarized power-cost drivers: many purchases are under fixed-price contracts (example name given: Mercuria) but the utility also must buy on short-term markets at variable hourly prices when needed. Bridal provided staff estimates for the planned Foxtail Flats (solar plus battery) project: daytime solar at about $37.88 per megawatt-hour and an estimated nighttime battery cost of about $148.83 per megawatt-hour (the latter includes charging losses and usage), figures staff said exclude some system losses and underutilization adjustments.

Utility Manager Philo Shelton noted the county’s resource mix can shift as contracts end and new resources come online; he confirmed Mercuria’s contract currently is expected to end in the 2025–26 fiscal year and that the county will use short-term hour-ahead purchases when hydro and other resources are short. He also said the department expects variability month to month in average cost of power.

At the meeting board members discussed procedural options. Chair Sherry Gibson reminded the board that an ordinance introduction requires only one member and that no vote on the substance is taken at introduction; the public hearing on both utility ordinances was scheduled for April 16, when the board may take substantive action or separate the TOU/demand elements for later consideration. Several board members said they preferred to keep the TOU/demand language in the published ordinance so the board would retain flexibility to decide later whether to take the new rate design forward.

One member of the public, identified as Mrs. Rosenbaum, said she was “confused” and worried that a TOU structure that charges more during evening peak hours (roughly 5–11 p.m.) would harm seniors and low-income residents who “need to cook dinner.” Gibson and staff responded that staff had considered household behavior in the design and that TOU is intended to shift discretionary high loads (for example, clothes dryers or vehicle charging) to daytime or off‑peak hours when possible; Bridal also noted the utility expects more daytime solar from Foxtail Flats and that batteries would supply evening energy at higher marginal cost.

Because this meeting was an introduction, no adoption vote occurred. The utility manager recommended the board introduce the code ordinance as presented, including the TOU and residential demand provisions; a board member formally introduced the ordinance at the close of the discussion. The April 16 public hearing before the Board of Public Utilities is the next opportunity for public testimony and a formal board decision. If the board forwards an ordinance to county council after that hearing, council’s schedule would include an introduction on May 6 and a council hearing on June 10, with rates scheduled to take effect beginning July 1, 2025 for the first step and July 1, 2026 for the second step.

Votes and formal actions recorded in the meeting minutes show the ordinance was introduced (first-reading introduction) but not adopted; substantive action remains scheduled for April 16. The staff report and presentation are available in the board packet.

Ending note: staff stressed the department will continue work on billing-system integration with the county’s advanced metering infrastructure and on public outreach; the April public hearing will include a fuller staff presentation on rate impacts and implementation.