At the start of a two-week regulatory hearing over the proposed sale of the state’s largest natural gas utility to a private equity firm, attorneys from the New Mexico Department of Justice have taken a step back from the case.

The agency has excused itself from the hearing and withdrawn testimony it had previously submitted with regard to the proposed purchase of New Mexico Gas Company by Louisiana-based private equity firm Bernhard Capital Partners for about $1.25 billion.

While the state agency didn't provide the reasoning behind their step back, the moves appear to amount to backpedaling in the substantial acquisition case. The New Mexico Department of Justice regularly has taken a lead role in arguing for consumers in the state’s largest utility regulation cases before the Public Re

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