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Annette Gardiner, president of New Mexico Gas Co. has decided to leave the utility at the end of the year for personal reasons.

The gas company is now a subsidiary of TECO Energy.

“My years at New Mexico Gas Co. have been wonderful and rewarding, I am proud of what the company has become,” Gardiner said in a news release issued Wednesday. “We have made great progress integrating the two companies, and, now that the company is well on its way to the future, I’ve recently decided it is a good time for me to focus on family and the next chapter of my life.”

Ryan Shell, the company’s vice president of Finance and Shared Services, will take Gardiner’s place on Jan. 1.

“Annette Gardiner has been a strong leader of New Mexico Gas Co., and we are sorry to see her go,” said John Ramil, TECO Energy president and chief executive officer. “Her management skills and no-nonsense approach have helped New Mexico Gas grow into the excellent company it is today.”

TECO Energy recently completed a $950 million acquisition of the Albuquerque-based gas company. With the addition of the gas company’s natural gas operations, TECO Energy ‘s utility subsidiaries now serve more than 1.5 million regulated electric and gas customers in Florida and New Mexico.

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Gardiner joined New Mexico Gas Co. in 2009 after more than a decade at SEMCO Energy Gas Co.

Shell joined New Mexico gas in 2009 and previously served as vice president of finance, treasurer and controller. He received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Oakland University and an MBA in management from the University of New Mexico.

New Mexico Gas Co. is the largest natural gas distribution utility in New Mexico, serving more than 513,000 customers across New Mexico. TECO Energy Inc. is an energy-related holding company with regulated electric and gas utilities in Florida and New Mexico, including Tampa Electric, Peoples Gas System and New Mexico Gas Co. Other TECO Energy subsidiaries include TECO Coal, which owns and operates coal-production facilities in Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia.