Jan. 10—The New Mexico Supreme Court has rejected a final request from the energy company Avangrid, effectively resolving a yearslong court battle over the Connecticut-based utility’s attempt to merge with Public Service Company of New Mexico.
A Thursday order from Chief Justice David K. Thomson denied Avangrid’s motion asking the court to force the state Public Regulation Commission to vacate a 2021 final order rejecting the merger request.
The commission’s scathing order found the merger deal was not in the public’s interest.
Avangrid spokesperson Joanie Griffin declined to comment Friday on the court’s decision.
The company — a subsidiary of Spanish energy giant Iberdrola — first announced plans to merge with PNM in October 2020 but in early 2024 said it was abandoning the merger plan after the PRC ruling, which Avangrid had appealed.
The long-fought merger battle faced opposition from Santa Fe-based clean energy advocacy group New Energy Economy, which also opposed Avangrid’s most recent motion in the merger case appeal.
In a statement Friday, New Energy Economy Executive Director Mariel Nanasi called Avangrid’s November request to the court a “frivolous motion.”
“Avangrid/Iberdrola wanted the New Mexico Supreme Court to sanction a rewrite of history yet the Court demurred; Avangrid/Iberdrola sought to whitewash the companies’ track record of ratepayer exploitation but the public interest prevailed,” Nanasi wrote. “This is important precedent, and we thank the Court for upholding the principle of ratepayer justice.”
The state Court of Appeals ruled against the electric utility in another case in December that was connected with the merger attempt.
Avangrid had appealed a state District Court’s dismissal of a lawsuit the company brought against a security firm and its CEO for comments made to the PRC in late 2021 related to the merger case, but the appellate court found the comments were “protected activity” and that Avangrid had not proved the comments were “baseless.”