Customers: Propane for heat not being delivered

Company says staffing problems and truck breakdown have prevented needed deliveries to northern Rio Arriba County

Possibly dozens of northern Rio Arriba County residents are struggling to get propane gas from a supplier, creating a potential heating crisis as winter approaches.

Numerous people and entities, including family members and the Attorney General’s Office, are trying to help people in villages like Los Ojos, Tierra Amarilla and Brazos, where access to natural gas is nonexistent and propane and wood are necessary for heat.

Beverly Archuleta Ortiz of Los Lunas, whose mother lives in Los Ojos, said a southwestern Colorado company that supplies propane to many in the area has said staff and truck problems have stopped service to northern Rio Arriba County.

Archuleta Ortiz succeeded in getting propane for her mother from Ferrellgas, but she said the company has been “bombarded with calls” and can’t supply everyone. Ferrellgas in Santa Fe referred a reporter to corporate headquarters in Missouri, which didn’t call return a call seeking comment.

“I would say hundreds” may be struggling with too little propane, Archuleta Ortiz said.

Debbie Trefethen of Bob’s LP Gas said: “All we want to do is service our customers. We cannot find the people” to work, “and we have gone up on our wages, not just a little bit, but a lot.”

She said the staffing problem is related to the coronavirus pandemic. She also cited a truck problem in which a state oil inspector in New Mexico has found deficiencies with a vehicle that the company’s mechanic says is fine. A second truck is in the repair shop, she said.

Archuleta Ortiz said she wants to help others in that region get propane and has complained to the Attorney General’s

Office, the Governor’s Office, the Better Business Bureau and other entities. She said Bob’s LP Gas also owes her mother, Beronis Archuleta, $450 because she likes to pay in advance.

“The fight that I’m fighting is for her and some of the other residents in that area,” she said.

Some complain they are at or near the bottom of their propane reserves, she said. “We’re just trying to make as much noise as we possibly can,” Archuleta Ortiz added.

Attorney General Hector Balderas’ office issued a news release Tuesday afternoon and said his agency would investigate.

The Attorney General’s Office also has received a complaint about a propane problem in San Miguel County, said Attorney General’s Office spokeswoman Jerri Mares.

New Mexico Gas Co. spokesman Tim Korte said his company intends to extend lines to carry natural gas south from Chama to the school and county complex in Tierra Amarilla next year.

Commissioner Joseph Maestas of the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission said his agency doesn’t oversee propane distribution but he has talked to Balderas and the state Regulation and Licensing Department about the problem.

“This propane issue has been festering for the better part of a month,” said Maestas, who lives in Santa Fe and represents north-central New Mexico. “I’ve been contacted by many constituents in my district.”

He said it’s “hard to get a handle on the scope of the problem.”

Rio Arriba County Manager Lucía Sánchez said the northern part of her county has unincorporated communities that depend on propane.

“We’re just really concerned about some of our most vulnerable residents,” Sánchez said.

Rio Arriba County Commissioner Moises A. Morales Jr. said some people have purchased space heaters. Morales, of Canjilon, said he uses wood for a stove and propane as a backup system. He said he got his propane tank filled early in the season, before there was a problem.

Trefethen of Bob’s LP Gas said her company has been in touch with Ferrellgas, but federal law prevents one company from filling another’s containers.

The staffing and trucking problems have put Bob’s LP Gas in a bind, she said.

Archuleta Ortiz said there are customers in a bind, too, with propane tanks that are practically empty.