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Thursday, March 6, 2008

Guest View: EMW Wants Affordable Water, Too

By Jim Schwebach
Chairman, Board of Directors EMW Gas Association
    EMW agrees: "Water Must Come at the Right Price" (Telegraph, Feb. 28). However, your editorial reflects lack of understanding regarding the gas company's 44-year history. Thus you express some unfortunate misconceptions about the company's provision of gas services and make some dishearteningly glum predictions for a future regional water system.
    EMW was formed in 1964 as a nonprofit, municipally owned gas company. The philosophy then and now is to supply affordable energy to the people of the Estancia Basin Region. Currently our cost of gas is lower than any other gas utility in the state. Our gas cost rarely exceeds $1 per therm. This January our selling price to our customers was 87.5 cents per therm, which is the sum of our actual cost of gas plus costs of operation. This compares with propane at 78 cents per gallon.
    EMW's standard charge for a new hookup to an existing line is $300. This charge, in some instances, provides up to 100 feet of new yard line. However, if an extensive trunk line must be built to a new hookup, it is not fair to make current customers bear the cost, nor is it cost-effective for the company to provide service, unless the new customer pays for the extended line. We do not feel existing customers should pay increased rates for development that does not yet pay for itself. Often initial costs of building a new line to a residence seem high, but over the life span of the property, the costs become more appealing when the expense of propane vs. natural gas is tallied, safety issues are examined, and the positive effect on property values from having gas are considered.
    EMW brings this same philosophy to the development of a regional water system. We want to bring affordable benefits to the people of the Estancia Basin Region.
    EMW, first conceived, was also just a "big dream." The costs looked huge to the people of 40-some years ago. I look at the high cost of a water system, and I, too, find it astounding! Yet, I know future demand can only add to its costs. Hydrologists debate the amount of potential basin recharge, but none denies we are using more water than nature returns. Unfortunately, for those living on scenic mountain sites, the water is not where they live. It is below them under the valley floor where farming continues and the population is still sparse. To get water to people in the mountains it must be moved. That is a simple and hard truth.
    Cost of a water system, because of the miles of pipeline, will be high. Costs for acquiring water, pumping that water, developing and maintaining a delivery system for that water, cannot be shrugged off. However, if a person drills a new, privately owned well, buys water rights to do so; maintains that well and replaces it (if it is possible) should it cease to produce, paying what today seems to be a hefty price for dependable water might appear more reasonable. Furthermore, a regional system owned by local municipalities has greater potential to protect and extend the lifetime of our water. Businesses will find the region more attractive if dependable and affordable water can be offered. We believe EMW's nonprofit status, as well as its tradition of efficient management, can minimize consumer cost.
    EMW hopes to find financial assistance through government grants and loans for initial start up, but the water system developed by EMW must become self-supporting. The water system must stand on its own. It will be managed separately, but jointly, with the gas system. EMW has no plans to impose the cost of a water system on its current gas customers.
    The Preliminary Engineering Report overview received last week is just that— preliminary. There is much work ahead to determine what portion of this regional system will be developed first. The big picture is to reach the remote areas. However, cost and demand dictate that it be built in phases. At first the system will not reach everywhere; it must grow. Moreover, it can only move water from where water is currently available. The Preliminary Engineering Report allows us— not yet to build the system— but to earnestly seek funds to begin to build it.
    EMW, which reflects the enduring attitudes of the founding towns of the Estancia Basin, is not afraid to "dream big." There is an old Chinese proverb: "To make a journey of 1,000 miles, one must first take a single step."
    EMW is taking that step.