Los Alamos County schedules hearing on natural gas rate changes

Los Alamos households with natural gas service were looking at a projected average monthly bill of $294.26 in fiscal year 2027, up $15.34, if county utility officials moved ahead with the proposed rate change.

The Los Alamos Department of Public Utilities set the public hearing for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday during the Board of Public Utilities work session in room 330 on the third floor of the Los Alamos County Municipal Building at 1000 Central Avenue. The county also made the hearing available online, giving gas customers in Los Alamos and White Rock a chance to follow the discussion without being in the room.

The rate proposal was not presented as a routine bookkeeping adjustment. County utility officials said the changes were intended to close the gap between budgeted operational costs and the revenues that cover those costs. In its rate materials, the department said current gas utility rates would not meet the requirement for the system to operate on a compensatory basis unless rates increased to cover projected revenue needs in the department’s fiscal year 2027 budget and fiscal year 2028 projections.

The county’s own projections show why the hearing matters to households watching monthly bills. The gas fund balance deficit was projected at $1.5 million by the end of fiscal year 2026, June 30, 2026. The proposed increase called for a 14-cent-per-therm hike in fiscal year 2027, followed by another 10-cent-per-therm increase in fiscal year 2028. County materials said the change was expected to bring the gas fund balance positive and start laying the groundwork for required reserves in fiscal year 2030.

Los Alamos County operates gas, electric, water and sewer utilities through its Department of Public Utilities, which works under the Board of Public Utilities. Any change to county utility rates must go through that ordinance process before it can take effect, and the public hearing was the formal point at which residents could weigh in before the proposal moved forward. For households that heat with natural gas, the question was immediate: how much more they will pay, and whether county officials can justify the increase before it reaches the County Council.