Dirty Politics: KCEC Endorses Pearce for Governor

Coal is not Sunshine and Bresnahan Does Not Speak for KCEC or Members

Below are excerpts from emails and Steve Pearce press releases obtained from Robin Collier at KCEI. Apparently KCEC CEO who speaks for the “rubber stamp” board endorsed Steve Pearce for Governor. Trustee Bresnahan denies this but in the words of Emma Gonzales, I call it “BS.”

Pearce, a loyal member of the Congressional Freedom Caucus is a Trumpean-Koch Brothers candidate, who would reverse New Mexico gains and take the state back into the dim recesses of historical fossil fuel era along with attendant repression of tolerance and progressive politics.

Not many KCEC members know that, according to sources, KCEC is a member of ALEC  as dues paying members of the national rural electric cooperative association. The Koch Brothers American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is an organized lobbying group that has done much to gerrymander and reverse the progressive gains of women and minorities in the last 75 years. Both CEO Reyes and KCEC President Bobby Ortega are well-known Republicans (along with other board member DINOS (Democrats in name only).

Here’s what trustee “Cowboy Bob” Bresnahan is not telling you about “putting the interests of our members first” and why your KCEC bills have skyrocketed: Prevarication as Policy. Read it and weep. (I’ve got file boxes full of documents.)

1: KCEC at the Annual Public Meeting “deleted” (whited out? ) a clause from the by-laws, voted on by members to limit the terms of board members.

2: KCEC paid $37 million, borrowed from “Guzman financiers” to Tri-State and approved a deal to spend additional thousands of dollars to maintain distribution lines formerly paid for by the Coop’s G &T but for the $37 million the KCEC members received “no assets.”

3: KCEC sought and received approval from the PRC (Pat Lyons voted to approve) rate increase in 2016 and, then, fraudulently and retroactively billed residential and non-residential members of the Coop, a practice stopped by member-intervenors, including this reporter.

4. KCEC has spent millions of dollars on failed diversification projects, borrowed about $150 million (estimated) to pay interest but not principle on increasing debt.

5. KCEC has failed to provide separate financial statements for diversified projects (Call Center, Command Center, Propane, Internet, and Broadband failures) despite PRC recommendations.

6. KCEC Trustees, according to insiders, are charging members record amounts for meeting reimbursements and travel expenses.

7. KCEC Board members encouraged and/or watched passively as a younger board member “beat down” an older member, twenty years his senior, and drove him from the Coop. (He actually drove himself to the hospital where I witnessed the bruises and effects of the Duran beat down.)

8. KCEC CEO has consistently misled the public, as has Bresnahan, who recently in a Taos News “My Turn” praised Holy Cross Hospital and CEO Patton but didn’t disclose that the Bresnahan spouse works at HCH and receives special consideration due to illness.

9. KCEC voted to join financiers Guzman energy group and electric charges as well as “fuel pass” throughs have skyrocketed.

10. KCEC has misinformed progressive “Greenies,” who support “Solar Projects,” which are paid for at astronomical rates by the socialization of costs, paid for on the backs of poorer and more frugal members as the Coop borrows more and more money.

11. Like Republicans throughout the country, KCEC has engaged in “gerrymandering” votes to maintain control of the Coop. A vote in Penasco (400 members per trustee) is worth 7 times a vote in Taos (3000 members per trustee) mas y menos.

12. KCEC, contrary to Bresnahan’s claim (below) no longer serves the members but the Board of Trustees and CEO Reyes’ narcissistic vision of the future along with other Trumpeans who support Steve Pearce.

13. KCEC uses Bob Bresnahan as the “Anglo” face of alternative energy in order to maintain control of the Coop. Both Bresnahan and Reyes reflect the politics of the Tweeter in Chief in deed if not in word.

14. The Taos News refuses to analyze and otherwise hold KCEC accountable for exploiting the community.
15. In the election this year vote for anyone but PRC snake Pat Lyons or Steve Pearce. Pearce in person will remind you of Dick Cheney. Bresnahan, Reyes, Pearce and Lyons are the true “dicks” you don’t want in office.

From the Pearce Campaign:

“Steve Pearce is the right person to lead that effort as Governor and I look forward to working with him to expand the renewable energy industry in rural communities like Taos County and across our state,” said Luis Reyes, Jr.”

From Bob Bresnahan: “putting the interests of our members first.”

“Some members of the Kit Carson Board, a team that is leading our community in the transition to renewable energy, are Republicans, and they may respect Pearce and his business qualifications more than I and other Democratic Board members.  But, that is a long way from endorsement!  Moreover, Kit Carson Trustees have established a record of mutual respect and putting the interests of our members first.  We make errors and face a lot of difficult problems, but Kit Carson enjoys national respect from progressive cooperatives and other utilities that are transitioning to clean energy.  Their representatives come to us for the benefit of our experience.  That is something we are proud of.”

We members are not “proud” of El Pendejo Cowboy Bob.