Sullivan Unfit for Duty

So what gives with new kid on the block Mayor Sullivan? The day after we mourn the loss of a decent politician, son Dan decides to use the fear mongering to gain popularity. Yes, fear upon the masses in efforts to sidetrack opinion polls that have him sinking fast. Dan, so far you are no where close what your dad was as a great politician for Anchorage, looking out for this city’s best interest. First and foremost, kid Sullivan went against the wishes of the Anchorage Assembly, against the voice of the people, when he vetoed the equal-rights amendment. A bill passed by the Assembly for the people and by the people – after hearing the voice of the people. So now kid Sullivan clamors up just like all disrespectful conservative right wing idiots and uses the cat in the bag trick - fear mongering – to gain what has been lost. That being popularity. Sure it is fear mongering! Either that, he knows not what he talks about. Again, he is not fit for duty as this city’s mayor. For reasons consistent with not knowing the truth of the matter or knowing all too well the truth and abusing the office and the power of that office by hiding the truth. His recent live quote: “I do not want, under my watch, for half the population of the state to not have heat and not have lights”, this is a statement that makes Sullivan unfit for duty. It is a lie. Bottom-line, this is crap and corrupt politics at its best. Hey Dan, are you going to turn the heat off at Sullivan’s Steak House and McKinley? I really doubt it. It all has to do with escalating the fear factor upon the premise that Anchorage and the Kenai and the Valley may not have enough natural gas to heat and boil water should there be a cold spell this winter. Whatever happened to Global Warming? Here is my take on Sullivan’s crap like conserve energy fear mongering campaign – a.k.a. Enstar Rip-Off Alert: Most are surely familiar with the Missing Kids "Amber" Alert, a warning that a terrorist has hijacked a youngster. We are also all so familiar with the TSA color code for travelers, once again a sign of terrorist activity that can threaten our existence. It appears now that those of us that live in Southcentral Alaska - Anchorage, Kenai and Palmer through Matanuska Valley - we must contend with another color coding system, this one also against terrorists! The latter defined as those trying to inflict pain and suffering upon our well-being with disruptions in natural gas to our homes. And this new terrorist organization upon which this warning applies? It is the local gas company that runs the delivery system that is supposed to securely provide my home, our neighborhoods, our schools and businesses uninterrupted clean and affordable natural gas. For years we have heard about the lack of natural gas to fuel our stoves and water heaters. That has allowed the supply and demand theory to rob my wallet clean, just for the necessities of heat and a little hot-water. I talked to a flight attendant just the other day, a sad story it is, as she had to come out of retirement just to make enough extra money to pay her monthly gas bill. My gas bill as gone crazy, like a 300% increase in three years time. And Enstar is always coming up with these off the wall excuses of why we should have to pay for their very own screw-ups. Take for instance Aurora Natural Gas reneging on gas contracts or the fact that Enstar under-billed the laundry at Ft. Richardson? And Enstar’s management had the audacity to file with the regulators that the consumers should have to pay for these bad business decisions? Hey Enstar, get some accountants that know what they are doing! Get some people that would say "NO" to fixing the books. Yes indeed, book fixing has happened before with Enstar, so what assurances are there that it isn’t happening today? I was there. When I worked for Enstar there was always this book fixing stuff going on because they could not make ends meet. It was a day-to-day pencil and eraser game; take a little here, put a little there. Actually, the computer spreadsheet accelerated this creative accounting. In fact, one outfit that didn't even have a pipeline was profiting from this out-of-control pencil whipping action. I complained to the regulators, lost my job and nothing was ever done about it. Actually, because I was honest and refused to help “cook” the books, it was considered insubordination which allowed Enstar to say I was unfit for work unless I went for psychiatric evaluation. The Doctor – bowtie Joe - had a good laugh and told me the management staff seemed to be the “crazed” ones. But he lived outside so didn’t give a rat’s ass about “cooked” books! Now had the state regulators investigated Enstar way back when they had the chance, maybe this new found “fear” would not be a bother now that winter is upon us and we fend for a little relief. So now we are told that there is plenty of supply but the delivery system is weak? Somebody is not telling the truth here. So there is now this magical gas supply but Enstar may not be able to get it to my home? To the point that the gas may become a trickle at peak demand times? That peaking comes in the morning when I am trying to boil water for coffee and at night when I am trying to cook a decent meal after a hard day at work. What gives? This goes to show that the regulators are missing in action or afraid to do their sworn jobs. This cannot happen and Sullivan should realize this and not make a big issue over nonsense. It works like this. Pipelines charge a tariff to transport a commodity. That is all Enstar is in it for, the tariff, to pay for salaries and infrastructure and steel away profits disguised as something else, just a delivery boy. We pay the tariff and any increases, just so we don't have to worry about that supply getting to our homes. Tariffs usually increase over time, in efforts for the pipeline owners to maintain the system. If the system is undersized, an increase in the tariff is justified, we all pay for it, but we get something from it - not just lip service. If Enstar is not fit to keep this pipeline up to standards, then the Michigan based company that owns it should be denied a business license and go away. But there is a long history behind what appears to be yet another failed system here in Alaska. Enstar was once upon a time a decent company, owned by Seagull Energy. It was an out-of-site side business for this Texas based oil conglomerate. So we enjoyed our cake and ate it too, with respect too plentiful natural gas at bargain basement prices. Back then the gas was not tied to the "Hub" price, as there existed incentive criteria that kept the gas prices low and affordable. Then came this Michigan company that wanted to have a 30% increase in revenue per year, by increasing the gas delivery system with more customers, not realizing that Anchorage was the big city and the historical growth rate for new customers per year was more in tune to 4%. Basically, this company did not do its homework and paid out three times the market value for the Enstar pipeline and infrastructure. It was a failed business venture from day 1. It was a big joke, this takeover by a bunch of incompetents, as the CEOs came to Alaska to fish and get wooed around town in the Fun Bus. They didn't realize and couldn't grasp the concept that there was limited growth here in the Last Frontier. And their purchase of Enstar - pipeline and compressor stations - was a laugh, as there was no way in hell that they could ever recover their loses. So for years, Enstar management has tried everything to make our lives miserable. From gas shortages to a threatened delivery system. Now when things were not going so well, with respect to profits, Semco – the Michigan based parent company - placed Ben Stevens on the board of directors while he was a state senator and it all went downhill from there. We are paying outrageous hard earned money for this commodity and now we hear the truth, that there is plenty of gas just a crappy system to get it from the gas fields to our homes. And Ben is still a free man? Here is the bottom line! If Enstar cannot provide enough natural gas due a system that has not been maintained, there is a system of curtailment already in place. The consumers are the last to lose out. So there is no need to worry, no matter what kid Sullivan tries to tell you. First on the curtailment plan, the military bases, as they have their own power plants and a backup source of energy that is supposed to last at least 30-days. Wait, that used to be the case until Ted Stevens privatized military housing at the bases in efforts to make his buddy Rubini rich, which meant the brass had to tear down the power plants, as the military cannot compete. With that, the heating and electrical demands went to MLP, placing more constraints on the entire system should there be a record breaking cold spell. Believe me, this mess has the Stevens' family to blame! Anyway, Enstar has an apporved curtailment plan, which stipulates that the consumers – you and I – will be the last without gas. It means closing businesses, then schools and the military will already be in limbo. And in the end if my house freezes up due lack of gas to heat, I will have the option to sue Enstar out of business and the Michigan based rip-off artists can go away and maybe, just maybe an entity fit for running a gas delivery system can take matters onto their own hands and this "Alert" bull crap can be but another piece of crap archive that shows the destructive ways and means of the Stevens' family! So in ending, Dan Sullivan uses the fear mongering when the truth is far from truthful. And if the pipeline delivery system is so bad that it cannot keep up with demand, then the regulators have not done their jobs, to see to it that the one and only gas company is doing its job. This entire natural gas thing stinks, and I reiterate, it seems to have gone all down hill when Ben made $70,000 dollars for nothing, to which he still refuses to tell the truth of what he did for that “extra” cash! Hey, if he did something good for the people, advertise it. Get the point! Bottom line, if there was a decent journalist left around these parts, it is time to report the truth behind the entire Enstar fiasco, including the Stevens’ family ties, the military privatization, everything that has made what was once a well respected business a joke, wherein the new kid on the block would no longer be able to use it too his advantage, by using the fear card when all the time it was just the “Corrupt Bastards” at work and the “people” were once again blindsided!