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Although neither will be tolerated, I'd rather be robbed with a gun then a pencil! It takes more guts on the part of the thief. I'm sure when you cracked open your gas bill something similar went through your head. I'll do my best to get you up to speed on the "Gas Wars". However, by the time this reaches you, I'm quite sure this will have escalated into a battle of Biblical proportions.

Capitan-Carrizozo Natural Gas Company (CCNG) was born August 12,1966, with a joint Powers Agreement (JPA) between Capitan and Carrizozo, both owning a one-half interest in a company that provides natural gas to the two villages. After the company's conception, things plugged along until August 1, 1992, when the CCNG board sold 41 miles of transmission pipeline to ZIA Natural Gas (ZIA) for $374,235.00. This sale triggered a ticking bomb that blew up in your mailbox the first week of December with the arrival of the over weight November gas bills.

Before the sale, CCNG made a profit of $91,000.00 per year to transport ZIA's gas. After 2001 not only did CCNG lose the $91 grand but paid out over $200,000.00 per year to transport their gas down a pipeline they once owned. Consequently, on August 1, 1992 CCNG lost its ability to be competitive in the natural gas market.

Just after elected I put three new faces on the CCNG board in an attempt to make the company competitive or give us options of what to do with it. On November 1st, Trustee Shearer and Cliff Smith resigned from the CCNG board, saying the gas company was costing its customers too much and they saw no way to save it. On December 10th, Chairman of the board, Tom Sullivan, said in his resignation letter, "'Our natural gas rates have placed an extreme financial burden on many of our citizens living on fixed income and especially our school district. I don't see any relief in the near future and feel that the mayor and trustees should pursue other avenues for natural gas,"

The first week of December you received your November gas bill. CCNG charged $12.94 per MCF, while Ruidoso residents paid $7.39, a difference of $5.55 an MCF. CCNG sells about 100,000 MCF a year. if you multiply the $5.55 over charge by 100,000 MCF you'll find it cost you $555,000.00 extra a year to own a local gas company. How I wish it ended there.

Natural gas is bought at sea level pressures and expands 22% as it reaches our altitude. ZIA adjusts for that expansion insuring their customers receive a full MCF for their $7.39. CCNG does not adjust for the expansion, selling an MCF at sea level pressure, meaning your $12.98 only buys 78% of a full MCF. To break it down, you pay 75% more for 22% less gas. You paid an extra one-half million dollars and only got 78% of the heating value. If CCNG sells 100,000 MCF and 22% of that is uncounted for, that means there is $284,680.00 of your money that we can't seem to find! Now you know why Capitan feels the urgency. Why doesn't Carrizozo? If there is a viable explanation, let' s hear it.

Ruidoso High school heats 115,498 square feet more then the school at Carrizozo. Yet, Carrizozo only paid $50.40 less for their heating bill in November. I don't understand why Carrizozo isn't mad? Capitan School paid $18,633.60 for the month of November, almost 10 thousand dollars more then Ruidoso High. Carrizozo may not be angry but Capitan is and I received a lot of complaints. Now, Capitan Trustees are put into a position that they can no longer allow this to continue. When it's starting to look like the company is about to be liquidated, suddenly CCNG finds a way to cut your bill by $2.65 an MCF, or by $265,000.00 a year; making me question why this was not done before the battle.

Your Trustees are asking some serious questions and demanding answers and they didn't wait until the middle of winter to start asking the questions. In June we requested a professional audit to examine the high prices and question the whereabouts of the missing 22% of gas. Phone calls were not returned and meetings were cancelled. We finally met with Carrizozo on November 22, and were told their citizens were not complaining about the gas prices. We brought up the issue of the missing 22% and CCNG said they would look at it, yet when the bills came out they had not.

After the cancellation of three meetings I refused to appoint anyone to the CCNG board. With no Capitan representative CCNG does not have a quorum, and all parties would be forced to meet with your trustees. On December 16, Carrizozo's CCNG board member, Chief Vega came to my house and we agreed that ff Carrizozo would come to the table on the 27th I'd put myself on the CCNG board, ensure the bills and employees would be paid, including Christmas bonuses. After I attended the CCNG board meeting on the 20th and all bills and employees paid, Carrizozo cancelled that meeting.

The JPA says CCNG exist "for the benefit of the citizens of each of the municipalities". If that's the case, how can we ask our citizens to pay an additional one-half million dollars for only 78 % of the heating value of natural gas? And where is the 22 % of the gas for which you are paying? The JPA reads, "Charges for providing gas and related services will be charged according to a uniform rate schedule..."" yet, prices are not posted and they are not uniform and change every month. The JPA also says, "Revenues gene-rated by billings for gas service in excess of the amount necessary to meet actual cost for operation and maintenance of debt service shall be used for rate reduction..." With $260,000.00 in the bank, rather then send you another outrages gas bill, maybe a note of apology is in order, with an enclosed check.

With no other alternatives left to us, on December 27th, the Capitan Trustee's sent a letter to Carrizozo saying ff they would not meet, our attorney would go to court and file for Receivership and the company would be sold. Capitan has also asked for a fan bank audit of the company. This will stop the rumors, and government owes that much to their citizens who have been asked to come up with the extra one-half minion dollars so a public utility can continue business.