COMMENTARY

MARK SCHUMANN

After moving from Vero Beach to Santa Fe, New Mexico, I read with interest stories in the local press reporting on the Santa Fe city council’s discussions about forming an electric utility. I thought, before they go too far down that road, maybe Santa Fe leaders should talk to some folks in Vero Beach.

Recently, my wife, Cheri, and I decided that as much as we enjoy Santa Fe, we love Taos even more – more hiking, more skiing, night skies that are still more beautiful, more amazing, more right-sizing. We opened an art gallery, Amoré Fine Art, in downtown Taos, and will be moving here next month.

I could not help but smile yesterday, when I bought a copy of the weekly Taos News. There at the top of the front page was a story about Kit Carson Electric’s mounting debt and rising rates.  Much like Vero Electric, Kit Carson would like to walk away from some of its contractual commitments.  And much like leaders in Vero beach, Kit Carson officials are being served up a lesson in contract law.  Turns out, at least as far as the courts are concerned, a deal is a deal.

If Kit Carson Electric officials want to extricate the company from contractual commitments to Tri-State Generation and Transmission, all they need to do is come up with an extra $37 million to compensate the co-op for, you guess it, stranded costs and contingent liabilities.

It all sounds so much like the storyline in Vero Beach.

Wherever you go, there you are.