Las Cruces · Utility Watch

Who owns the pipes and wires?

Every monthly bill in Las Cruces goes to a monopoly you didn’t choose. Some are owned by the public, some by shareholders, and some by private investment funds. This is the roster for this region — who really owns each one, what they’re charging, and where the decisions get made.

3 utilities · updated Aug 12, 2026

Live proceedings

📅 Docket calendar (.ics)

Open⚡ El Paso Electric · NMPRC · 25-00082-UTin 38 days

New Mexico base-rate case ($70.4M request)

Evidentiary hearing begins (runs through Oct 2); decision expected by year's end

Watching⚡ El Paso Electric · PUCT

Texas base-rate case — city rehearing motion

City of El Paso's motion for rehearing of the Feb 2026 order is pending

Open⚡ El Paso Electric · PUCT · 57501

McCloud gas plant certification (Meta data center)

The plant serving Meta exclusively for its first five years — filings detail gas, water, and grid impacts

Watching🏛️ Las Cruces Utilities · Utilities Board of Commissioners

Annual rate review

Board-approved increases are capped at 5% a year without city council sign-off — rate proposals surface at public board meetings first

Private equity–owned

Monopoly utilities owned by private investment funds. No public shareholders, no SEC quarterly reports — the main public window left is the rate case.

⚡El Paso Electric · ElectricityOwned since 2020 by the Infrastructure Investments Fund (IIF), a private investment vehicle advised by J.P. Morgan Investment Management.5

Investor-owned

For-profit utilities owned by publicly traded companies. Shareholders come first by design; regulators set what they're allowed to earn.

🌀Zia Natural Gas Company · Natural gasA small privately held gas utility serving about 35,000 New Mexico customers — roughly 13,300 of them in Doña Ana County outside the Las Cruces city system.2

Publicly owned

Utilities owned by the community they serve. No profit margin — but rates still climb, and the meetings where they're set are open to you.

🏛️Las Cruces Utilities · Natural gas · Water · Wastewater · Solid wasteOwned by the city of Las Cruces — one municipal utility running gas, water, wastewater, and trash, overseen by a citizen board and the elected city council.2

The grid these wires feed

Ownership is half the story; load is the other half. The Energy Ledger tracks what NM’s grid generates, what it uses, its EV fleet and charging network, and where its mandate stands — the demand curve every rate case below is really arguing about.

Open the NM energy dossier →