With a heavy hand I write this message to the Aquila Merchant Services people.  As Bob mentioned in his earlier message we must now reduce our Wholesale Group to reflect that we, ILA, do not have the credit capacity to continue to support the needs of the business.  Starting today we will begin to wind down our Commodity Services and CapitalServices groups, both in North America and in Europe, with the goal of being significantly out of all commercial operations by the end of the summer.  Later today we will take the first step to reduce the headcount of the organization.  For many of our fellow workers today will be the last day at Aquila.  For those not released today, we will need to, as carefully and responsibly as possible, put our beloved company to bed.  At the end of this process, the remaining employees, as is true with me, will be let go. 

No one is to blame, it is just an unfortunate reality we have found ourselves in, and we are left with this ugly choice.  Please try to hold your head up, we have built a great company of talented, motivated, creative, and dedicated people.   Hold on to your integrity, respect yourself and each other, and remember what a team we have had.  

Ed