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Saturday, August 23, 2008 3:00 AM ElectricCities board approves new policies By Matt Shaw | Times Staff Writer RALEIGH - The ElectriCities board of directors instituted new policies Friday that are intended to keep local officials better informed about mid-year rate increases. Customers of N.C. Eastern Municipal Power Agency cities, including Wilson Energy, were affected by a 14-percent rise in the wholesale cost of power that went into effect Aug. 1. Most of the NCEMPA cities have passed the increase along to their customers, although some, like Wilson, were able to trim a small amount from it. NCEMPA Board Chairman Paul Fisher of Southport pushed through two changes that are meant to give local officials more of a say in rate changes. First, the process now allows the NCEMPA board to reject mid-year increases suggested by its rate committee. The commissioners, though, can only turn down two requests before they will be required to say what they believe is a reasonable figure. Second, Fisher proposed a more formal structure for the rate committee, which may make it more independent from ElectriCities. Although the ElectriCities board will retain the final vote on mid-year increases, the two changes are intended to give local officials more information about pending rate changes. "They'll be forced to be more involved in the decision-making process," Fisher said. Both passed unanimously. The rate increase has stabilized the electric utilities' financial status for now, but the board will again be reviewing rates this winter. As early as next year, ElectriCities CEO Jesse Tilton said that he anticipates federal legislation intended to cut the effects of global warming. That would drive up the cost of energy produced in coal plants, two of which NCEMPA co-owns with Progress Energy, he noted. However, NCEMPA cities would be better off than some competitor power utilities because the agency also has a share of two nuclear power plants, Tilton said. The ElectriCities board met for nearly two hours behind closed doors to discuss personnel issues. However, it did not take any action after the session. Matt Shaw |
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