Leadership
Our executive team and our Board of Directors work together to benefit our customers. Below is a glance at each member of our leadership team.
Our Executive Team
Ryan Shell
President
Ryan is the President of New Mexico Gas Company and a member of the Company's Board of Directors. He joined NMGC in 2009, serving as Vice President of Finance, treasurer and controller. Before that, Ryan worked in various leadership roles at SEMCO Energy, a natural gas utility with operations in Michigan and Alaska, and he was a Certified Public Accountant at BDO Seidman, a national accounting and consulting firm. Ryan holds an MBA from the University of New Mexico and a bachelor's degree in accounting from Oakland University in Michigan. He serves on the boards of several non-profit organizations and business associations.
Denise Wilcox
Vice President - Human Resources and Corporate Security
Denise is responsible for leading Human Resources and Corporate Security. Before joining New Mexico Gas Company in February 2009, Denise built a distinguished career with the City of Albuquerque, serving in a variety of leadership positions in municipal development, environmental health, labor relations, risk management and customer services. Denise holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration and a B.A., both from the University of New Mexico. She is certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and holds the SHRM-SCP designation through the Society for Human Resources Management. Denise serves on the Board of Directors of the Domestic Violence Resource Center and Western Energy Institute Corporate Services.
Gerald Weseen
Vice President – Regulatory, Strategy and External Affairs
Gerald has executive responsibility for regulatory affairs and business strategy, including the company's consideration and adoption of emerging technologies. He also supervises government and community affairs as well as Native American relations. Before joining New Mexico Gas Company in 2020, Gerald was Vice President of Special Projects for Emera Inc. He spent almost 13 years in leadership roles with Emera and its largest Canadian operating affiliate, Nova Scotia Power. He has also worked on project and business development in Maine, Florida and the Caribbean. Gerald serves on the board of the New Mexico Chamber of Commerce and the National Hispanic Cultural Center Foundation.
Jimmie Blotter
Vice President – Business Support
Jimmie joined NMGC in 2019 and has over 25 years of experience in safety and financial roles, including more than 15 years in regulated utilities. She is a Certified Public Accountant. Before joining NMGC, Jimmie spent 10 years at PNM Resources, where her roles ranged from the Senior Manager over General Accounting to Assistant Treasurer and Investor Relations Director. Jimmie also has experience in the aerospace and semiconductor industries. Jimmie holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with emphasis in Accounting from Idaho State University. She serves on the Sandoval Economic Alliance Board of Directors.
Nicole Strauser
Vice President – Compliance and General Counsel
Nicole has been with NMGC since 2010. She oversees all aspects of the Company’s legal affairs, including corporate compliance and ethics, litigation, contracting, employment law, and risk management activities. Nicole has a B.S. from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in Business Management (with high honors) and a J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin (with honors). Before joining NMGC, she practiced law in the areas of bankruptcy, commercial law and the energy industry, and served as General Counsel for an insurance and financial services agency and Chief Compliance Officer of its affiliated broker dealer. She serves as an Adjunct member of the Board of Trustees (Development Committee) for Sandia Preparatory School in Albuquerque and as Chair of the Board of Directors for First Cornerstone, Inc., an endowment fund.
Ray Sanchez
Vice President – Operations
Ray has worked at NMGC since 1996, holding supervisory and managerial positions in Metro gas services, data analytics, compressed natural gas, customer service and regional operations. Before that, he held positions at Tenneco and with the New Mexico Army National Guard. Ray earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance, a Bachelor of Business Administration in Real Estate and an MBA, all from New Mexico State University. He is President of the Board of Directors at ReadWest, which provides literacy tutoring for adults in Sandoval and Bernalillo counties, and serves on the boards of Southwest Federal Credit Union and the Pueblo of Laguna Utility Authority.
Tom Bullard
Vice President – Safety, Engineering and Gas Management
Tom oversees Safety, Engineering, Gas Control and Compression, Gas Supply and Technical Services. A Registered Professional Engineer, he has worked in the natural gas utility industry since 1993, serving at utilities in Las Cruces and Albuquerque. Tom joined NMGC's predecessor company in 2000 and has overseen groups that provided technical and engineering support as well as transmission system engineering and design, project management and pipeline integrity management. He developed the first pipeline integrity management plan used by NMGC to ensure that pipelines are regularly inspected and maintained to the highest safety and reliability standards. During his term as Director of Engineering, his responsibilities expanded to include oversight of NMGC's safety and compliance programs. He is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the National Association of Corrosion Engineers. He serves on the Board of Directors at Greater Albuquerque Habitat for Humanity.
Tommy Sanders
Vice President – Customer Service & Information Technology
Tommy oversees the Call Center, billing and credit, Metro collections, Information Technology & Telecommunications, facilities and procurement. He joined NMGC in 1982 and has worked in regional gas operations, gas acquisitions, transportation, marketing, gas control and transmission and compressor operations. Tommy graduated with honors from New Mexico State University with a bachelor's degree in accounting. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the New Mexico State Society of Certified Public Accountants.
Erik Buchanan
Vice President – Finance
Erik joined NMGC in May 2020 as Director of Forecasting and Planning. Before that, he spent more than 16 years in a variety of accounting and finance roles, including auditing positions with Chavarria, Dunne, and Lamey and the Albuquerque office of KPMG. He worked 12 years at Public Service Company of New Mexico, holding positions in Accounting, Budgeting, Planning & Forecasting, SEC Reporting and Tax Compliance. He is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration with concentrations in Accounting and Finance from the University of New Mexico.
Our Board
Deborah Peacock
Chief Executive Officer at Peacock Myers, P.C., a law firm specializing in intellectual property. A longtime New Mexico resident, she is a registered Professional Engineer and earned her JD from Harvard Law School. Deborah is a board member of Westwater Resources, Inc., NewSpace Nexus and the Colorado School of Mines Foundation. She formerly served as a board member of THEMAC Resources Group/New Mexico Copper Corp. and as chairman of the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board.
Del Archuleta
Chairman of the Board of Molzen-Corbin Associates of Albuquerque, a full-service consulting engineering and architecture firm. He is on the boards of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, National Dance Institute (NDI) and the University of New Mexico Lobo Club. A native of Clayton, Del previously served on the board of Public Service Company of New Mexico and has held leadership positions at the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, United Way of Central New Mexico and Presbyterian Healthcare Services.
Jack McGowan
President of The McGowan Group, energy efficiency technology consultants. A New Mexico resident since 1975, he is a former director of the state’s Energy Conservation and Management division and held leadership positions with Energy Control Inc., Honeywell, Johnson Controls and Hydroscope Inc. His community involvement has included the Sustainable Santa Fe Commission, Celebrate Youth and the Ronald McDonald House. He is Chairman Emeritus of the U.S. Department of Energy Gridwise Architecture Council.
Jackie Baca
President of El Encanto, Inc., (Bueno Foods) in Albuquerque. She is a current member of the board of Think New Mexico and has served as a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Kansas City Economic Advisory Council. She was a founding board member of New Mexico Community Capital, ACCION NM and New Mexico Ethics Alliance. Her long list of other community involvement includes the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce and Leadership New Mexico. She is a native of Albuquerque.
Marie Longserre
President and Chief Executive Officer of the Santa Fe Business Incubator since its inception in 1997. A longtime New Mexico resident, she formerly served on the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Community Development Advisory Council and the International Business Innovation Association. Other involvement includes New Mexico Angels, Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce, the Rocky Mountain Business Incubation Collaborative and the New Mexico Business Incubation Group.
Michael Canfield
President and Chief Executive Officer of the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center and Indian Pueblos Marketing, which are on tribal land in Albuquerque. A member of Laguna Pueblo, Mike serves on many community and business boards, including Albuquerque Regional Economic Alliance (AREA), Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, Near North Valley Neighborhood Association Board and CNM Ingenuity Board. He previously served on the boards of United Way of Central New Mexico and New Mexico Mutual.