El Paso Electric’s Public Utility Commission Report Has Errors, Will Be Verified By Commission

El Paso Electric wasted no time filing their report detailing their efforts during that record-breaking winter storm.

“Realizing the fact that the sooner we have the information, the better, they filed quickly on the 14th,” said Terry Handley, spokesman for the Public Utility Commission which oversees the utility.

El Paso Electric officials filed the 70-page document on Monday, less than two weeks after the storm hit. But the ABC-7 I-Team discovered numerous errors including dates that were mixed up, incorrect temperature readings and discrepancies from what utility officials initially told the media about equipment preparations.

PUC officials said they will do their own fact checking.

“We’re working off a philosophy of ‘trust, but verify,’ Handley said. “So to the extent that our staff has any questions about the report, we will go back to the utility and ask for clarification.”

After the PUC’s review is complete, it will be presented to its commissioners.

“The main concern is that this doesn’t happen again,” Handley said.

The commissioners will decide whether to mandate improvements or instate better planning or maintenance procedures. Ultimately, the PUC oversees any rate increase. If the commission finds any wrongdoing and the utility wants to recover added costs from the storm through a rate increase, PUC officials said that may not happen.

So far, El Paso Electric has not filed a rate recovery request, but there is no deadline on when the utility can ask for one.