Grassroots of Tarboro

Will you post the ElectriCities Rate Committee on the calendar page? It is the 27th at 10 am, Braswell Library in Rocky Mount. We hope to get at the real issues behind the electric rate increases that are hurting our cities.

Thanks,
Tina Johnson
Rocky Mount, NC

Tina and others ---
One of our folks got a very disappointing response from Ken Raber and Sam Noble today. They said they will not answer questions people ask such as the components of the rate increase. They said they will not answer questions because it takes too much administrative time.

They specifically told the power agency commissioners about the blundered refinancing deal that Jesse Tilton did and now are hiding it trying to tell all of us it is all fuel costs. I understand the rate increase will be more than we think and come on faster than we think which spells real problems for those on fixed incomes.

This is a public entity in which we have an investment and they are refusing to respond publicly or answer any questions which means we have to pressure Mayors and Council members. There is in fact an obligation on the part of public entities to be open and honest. No other electric provider is afforded the right to keep components of their rates secret and neither should ElectriCities.

We will have a large crowd and Rick Dew of Wilson is leading an on-air call for people to come. Please promote this as you can on tv and here and please come with your cameras. We need everyone to help contact legislators as well. They are hearing from us and need to hear from more. Please send out a plea on behalf of those on fixed incomes and seniors as this will really hurt them.
---
Attend the electric rate committee meeting on June 27 at the Braswell Library in Rocky Mount and learn why ElectriCities continues to raise your electric rate. The next BIG rate increase is coming sooner than you think and will be larger than you think. The CEO Jesse Tilton of ElectriCities is mismanaging your money. ElectriCities was formed so the cities could own shares of electric plants and presumably have reliable and affordable electricity. But in the east we own nuclear and coal and the DEBT for our ownership in these plants, now at more than $3 BILLION, IS COSTING US MORE. Come learn how the CEO did a refinance that is tangled in the mortgage loan industry and driving your RATES UP AND UP. And he refuses to answer any questions. Eastern NC cannot afford a CEO that is costing us on our electric bill and hiding the reasons. And we cannot afford to have a place like ELECTRICITIES with no oversight by our state's utilities commission or the legislature. Come and be heard.

Darien, Wilson, NC

Hi Tina,
I posted the June 27th ElectriCities meeting on the Events Calendar.
For future reference YOU can post meetings, including TAEC meetings if you'd like. It is an interactive community calendar. Just click on the date of the event you wish to add and you can do it yourself. Great way to help the community stay informed.

Thanks Ms.NeSmith. Most of us are rather inexperienced on websites. Sebastian Thomas and his wife got a rather shotty response on getting any information. It appears public entities think they are above answering questions from the public.

TAEC
What we are against:

Mismanagement that increases costs and raises rates
Excessive salaries and salary increases and bonuses that are not consistent with the jobs, market and cities
Secret settlements that raise rates and a CEO who continues to provoke them
A Board of Directors that is not exercising due diligence and oversight
Lack of regulation and oversight for components of rates, rate increases and general operations
Inconsistent information
A public entity that is not open with the taxpayers
Cities buying transmission lines from the large utilities
Excessive lobbying expenses

What we are for:

A professional staff that is paid in accordance with the cities they serve
Affordable, reliable electricity
Renewable and alternative forms of electric generation, but phased in requirements for the cities so the cities can make progress on existing debt for nuclear plants
Credits for cities that are able to develop renewable forms of generation or provide land for such ventures
More energy efficiency programs
Incentives for development of new generation technology
Balance of environment and generation methods
Regular communication with ratepayers in information forums developed by the city leaders
More engagement by city elected officials and less from just managers
A consistent balanced plan to pay down the debt without elaborate and not well thought out plans to dramatically affect it by refinancing that ends up costing more money
Division of the power agencies into two separate staffs focused on electric operations only since there are separate interests and costs and other services provided are redundant of cities and counties
Addition of business leaders to the Boards of the separate power agencies; business leaders without a conflict or stake in the outcomes; Board Members who will serve for free
NC Utilities Commission regulation of city electric and wholesale electric to the cities by ElectriCities to ensure rates are fair, balanced, analyzed and the components are told to the ratepayers and consistent with the other electric providers

----
Ms. NeSmith, Some of our members are a but over-zealous and copy posts from forum to forum to try and give credit. They have been engaged for a while in Wilson and the forum there is a little bit tougher and is more of a place to complain. But we want Tarboro participation. We are posting facts as we get them from sources inside ElectriCities and city leaders who are fed up. Our goal is to get all 32 eastern cities engaged in these issues. Only strength in numbers will lend success to the cause.

http://www.carolinapoliticsonline.com/index.php?submit.
x=0&submit.y=0&s=electricities

Added by webeditor/Grassroots, if that link doesn't work try this:
Carolina Politics Online / ElectriCities

I have seen a lot of the information on this group about ElectriCities on blogs throughout eastern cities so the message is getting out. Mr. Haydon in Kinston has circulated a lot of the same information. In the absence of rebuttal I lean toward believing it. If something is not true, I would be interested in that as well. Afterall blogs are about opinions.

I will attend the meeting. I got information on Rick Dew a former Wilson mayoral candidate who is doing on air promotions to get people there. I appreciate the information and really do not understand that if Electric Cities was formed for nuclear power, why are rates going up so much. My research does not show a great deal of increase in this commodity. Does anyone know the answer?

I don't know the answer but there does not appear to be a huge increase in uranium for nuclear plants. Gas and coal are the fuels experiencing the increase. I heard and read all of these same things six months ago on Wilson Times blog where my Mother lives so none of this is new but the numbers for the rate increase keep going up. Personally I want some oversight by experienced energy advisers.

http://www.wilsontimes.com/News/Local/Story/
Council-makes-it-easier-to-change-gas-rates--

Just to make everyone aware, in Wilson, the City Council has given authority to the City manager to adjust rates. This is not good. People are very upset. We elect council members to make decisions, not managers.

"The Wilson City Council passed a resolution Thursday allowing the city manager to make decisions on the gas or electric rate within 10 instead of 30 days, due to the fluctuating market prices.
City Manager Grant Goings told the council that the price of natural gas fluctuates rapidly and could increase significantly within a 30-day time frame. The city could stand to lose several hundred thousand dollars in one month's time if it waited one month for City Council approval of rate changes."

I will be at the ElectriCities meeting at the Braswell Library in Rocky Mount at 10am tomorrow morning (6/27/08). I look forward to learning something and hope that it is a productive meeting.
I dislike being "in the dark" through lack of knowledge almost as much as being "in the dark" through lack of affordable electricity.

Recap of Today/rate Meeting
Rick Dew, candidate for Mayor in Wilson, did a good job today. The rest of us spoke to reporters. Lets see how the press turns out on this issue.

ElectriCities had to admit the bad refinancing of the debt decisions. Who can explain synthetic swaps in IMOs? They say a lot of industries did it, but I have not found anyone with the multi million dollar problem. I think most of us were thinking, if you go to invest money, you want "safe" investments. After all it is public money. Electricities did speculative investments and they failed and so we lost large amounts of funding. Now we are all paying for it., ElectriCities invested in bonds that were in "mortgage investments" and we all know how that market is going. In all of the buy outs and market fluctuation, all of the AAA rated bonds are now rated BBB. If this is not CEO mismanagement I don't know what is. We have our game plan and we have a month. The rate increase will not go away but Jesse Tilton can. We need new leadership. And honestly I have to ask, where was Richard Moore on this deal? Is not the treasurer the expert who should be looking over this. After all if ElectriCities defaults on $5 billion in debt, we are ALL holding the bag (that means everyone in non electric cities).

Anyway, this group today approved the 14% increase....and it goes forward. I think there are many questions yet to be answered. And many more questions to be asked. Press on troops. Whoever said the people cannot affect change did not meet this group. .

Attend ElectriCities Board meeting July 25 for more of the show. The CEO needs to go.

Grassroots of Tarboro - What do you think? Do you like paying more cause of bad investments? How many CEOs survive this? This is of course on top of his multiple other screw ups having to settle legally with women, superspending on fancy dinners and hotel suites. With him at the helm, the debt will grow larger.

http://www.electricities.com/press/ncempa_rate_communications.html

Read it all and learn how you too can turn on a fan and turn off the AC to save some money (get real people)

I attended the meeting. You may have seen me sitting near the back along the wall of windows listening intently and scribbling notes.
My overall impression is that the NCEMPA folks were trying to give us a thorough and honest understanding of why our rates must be increased AS THEY SEE IT, but they see things from an entirely different perspective than the consumers, They are so focussed on looking at dollars in the millions and billions that they are unable to understand (or perhaps care) what affect a 14% increase will have on the consumers they serve.
They showed many charts and diagrams showing the problem from their prospective. Someone in the audience did suggest that a pie chart or diagram showing how examples of how the rate increase will be affecting the individual consumer might have been helpful, but was not offered. For example: with that 14% increase, if your electric bill was approximately $300 in September 2007, it will be approximately $345 in September 2008. That's a HUGE jump for lower income families and people on fixed incomes.
With all of their well-paid department heads and chairpeople, and assistants, and advisors, where is the committee that keeps them in touch with the reality of the people they serve? What is their responsibility TO the people they serve? Hmmm, apparently WE the consumers are NOT the people they serve.
The question of developing new alternative energy sources (wind, water, solar) was asked and was quickly brushed over as a TOO EXPENSIVE option. Too expensive to establish, or too expensive to maintain? Where are the pie charts and diagrams to prove that one to me? I'd really like to see it.
I agree that new people in charge may be the only way to ever see improvement in the situation, but in my eyes it is because the people in charge at this point are not visionary they know how to do things as they have always been done and the world is rapidly changing. You know the old saying "Stupidity is doing things the same way and expecting different results".

http://wilsontimes.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1887

The folks in Wilson agree. Over there the City officials are pressuring the Wilson paper to get rid of this forum cause they do not like the truth being printed. We showed them the Tarboro model as an alternative so kudos to this site for being a model! Mayor Bruce Rose wants it shut down cause he knows he knew about this bumbled mess in MARCH and his CEO knew in OCTOBER 2007. Sam Noble knew as well. This board is being exposed. Hold them to the accountability they should have.

On to the Board Meeting where as WD59 in Wilson said, there need to be resignations over this poorly done financing. Hold the CEO accountable.

http://www.wilsontimes.com/News/Local/Story/Electric-rates-face-August-increase--

Here you go DBR:

Link to article in Wilson Times

That link should work (Betty / Grassroots of Tarboro)

Electric rates face August increase

By Matt Shaw | Daily Times Staff Writer

ROCKY MOUNT -- Tony Langston sat through a nearly two-hour presentation Friday morning on the cost of yellowcake uranium, the turmoil in financial markets and other reasons that municipal power agencies across eastern North Carolina will soon be raising their electric rates.
Afterward, the Wilson resident dug a $20 bill out of his pocket and held it up.

"This is my gross revenue," he said. "My operating costs -- my two children, my food, my clothing and my housing -- are going up.

"And unlike them, I cannot go out and get someone else to pay for the increased costs."

Langston was among a dozen or so people who went to the N.C. Eastern Municipal Power Agency Rate Committee's meeting to protest a planned rate hike.

Another was Arletha C. Pope, who told the committee that her daughter already had a $500 power bill this month and her granddaughter a $600 bill.

"My granddaughter is working here and there but not enough to get that kind of bill paid," she said.

The NCEMPA committee was unbowed by the show of opposition, though. It voted unanimously to recommend a 14-percent increase in the rate NCEMPA charges its member cities and towns, including Wilson, Rocky Mount, Fremont and Pikeville.

The final decision will be made by the NCEMPA Board of Commissioners when it meets July 30 in Wilson. Should it approve, the wholesale rate would go up Aug. 1.

That would likely force Wilson Energy also to raise its rates, said City Manager Grant Goings. "We'd absolutely have to pass on whatever is decided."

Earlier this month, the City Council approved a 5-percent increase in electric rates, that will become effective Tuesday. That will pay for an ongoing $33 million expansion of the electric grid, including two new substations and transmission lines, and is separate from the rate hike recommended Friday.

The City Council will now need to consider at a July meeting whether to approve another rate increase that would mirror the increase in its wholesale rate.

Following the Rocky Mount briefing, Wilson Mayor Bruce Rose called it "a very difficult situation, there's no way around it. This is happening all over the country."

Ken Raper, a senior vice president at NCEMPA, called it "the most difficult time I've seen in the utility industry."

The cost of coal and nuclear fuel have all reached historic highs in the past year, and natural gas prices have been high since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, he said.

NCEMPA has been the most affected by coal, which is used in its Roxboro and Mayo plants, he said. The cost per ton was around $30 in 2002 and $60 in December, but it has jumped to $110 this spring. The cost of transporting it has gone up with the cost of oil, he said.

NCEMPA has also been hurt by a failed restructuring of its debt for its nuclear power plants.

Tim Tunis, NCEMPA's chief financial officer, said that the agency had converted a portion of the debt from fixed-rate loans to variable-interest loans in 2004. The move was expected to save around $10.5 million a year in interest payments, he said.

Instead, the collapse of the subprime mortgage market caused those interest rates to climb unexpectedly, he said. Between last December and April, the payments were nearly $4 million over budget.

NCEMPA has since converted that debt back to fixed rates, but the damage was done, Tunis said. NCEMPA's debt service payments are rising $12 million a year, or equal to a two-percent hike in the wholesale rate.

Agency officials also anticipated spending $37 million more to buy power from Progress Energy, $12 million more for coal, $9 million for nuclear fuel, $6 million for transmission, $5 million more for operating costs and $3 million to replace interest normally earned on investments.

That equals $84 million, or around 14 percent of NCEMPA's budget.

Other utilities are going through the same issue, Raper said. Progress Energy is seeking approval for a 16-percent increase in customer cost as of January 2009.

Other planned hikes are Duke Energy, 8 percent; Dominion Virginia (which serves some Nash County customers), 18 percent; Jacksonville Electric Authority, 15 percent; and Florida Power & Light, 16 percent.

Raper is expected to appear at the Wilson City Council's meeting Thursday, July 17, to discuss the proposed rate increase. Council could vote that night on Wilson Energy's rates. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. at City Hall, Goldsboro Street.

mshaw@wilsontimes.com | 265-7878

12 Questions of Accountability
To: NC Legislators, City officials, Attorney General, State Auditor
After months of denying a rate increase, then denying the rate increase is due to anything other than fuel costs, ElectriCities of NC finally admitted a booboo. But this one is very costly to the good people of eastern NC. They finally admitted, after telling us to USE FANS to save money.
Jesse Tilton CEO “converted a portion of the debt from fixed-rate loans to variable-interest loans in 2004. The move was expected to save around $10.5 million a year in interest payments, but instead, the collapse of the subprime mortgage market caused those interest rates to climb unexpectedly. Between last December and April, the payments were nearly $4 million over budget. They have since converted that debt back to fixed rates, but the damage was done. NCEMPA's debt service payments are rising $12 million a year, or equal to a two-percent hike in the wholesale rate.”
http://www.wilsontimes.com/News/Local/Story/Electric-rates-face-August-increase--
How much has the most refinancing of the debt cost us in total?
When was it discovered to be a bad deal? Officials in Wilson told us March was when they were told but the CEO knew in October. But the people, the people who have to pay were not told until June and many city officials were not told until June.
When did the CEO inform the cities, the board? March some; June most
How long had he known when he informed them? He knew in Oct. 2007 and did not tell his board until March. He let the costs increase and did not tell.
How much did it cost during that interim?
Has the refinancing of the debt been cleaned up - i.e. has it been refinanced again?
How much did that cost?
What percentage of the rate increase is due to the poorly managed refinancing of the debt?
Why are you not informing the ratepayers of the true costs of the rate increase? They are starting to now after lying for a while to the press and the people and even some city officials.
How much have operational costs increased (%) over the past three years?
What cuts will ElectriCities make to demonstrate that they understand the burden they have placed on eastern NC?
Why is the ElectriCities Board continuing to employ a CEO who has mismanaged public money, cost the ratepayers needlessly and hidden the facts? How can you employ a half million dollar CEO who screwed up this badly along with his overpaid managers. How can you lie to the press and people time after time. And how can board members take thousands of dollars in “salary” for being on a board when they are not doing their job. WE NEED OVERSIGHT
http://www.wilsontimes.com/News/Local/Story/Electric-rates-face-August-increase--
And why did Sen Martin Nesbitt and Rep Dan Blue (A former ElectriCities lobbyist) get a bill passed for ElectriCities and then get a PAC contribution when they have no electric city in their district. And why would a bill pass letting this group enter into ANYTHING for any longer than 3 years when the ineptness is so OBVIOUS.
Enrolled and on its way to the Governor’s office for signature is a bill that allows joint municipal
assistance agencies to make and execute contracts for more than three years. HB 1679 entitled Joint Municipal Assistance Agency Contracts, introduced by Rep. Earl Jones (D-Guilford),
was given a favorable report out of the Senate Judiciary I Committee and received unanimous support on the Senate floor. Senator Nesbitt (D-Buncombe) explained the bill on the Senate floor and stated that he had no idea why anyone would put such a restriction on an organization trying to do business. The bill amends General Statute 159B-44 by removing the three-year limit. ElectriCities will be able to bind its members in contracts for a period longer than three years.The bill is effective as soon as the Governor signs it into law.
THIS IS NOT GOOD. YOU DO NOT REWARD BAD BEHAVIOR WITH MORE AUTHORITY

I hope you will continue to follow the ElectriCities Board Meeting July 25 at 10 am in Raleigh and the NCEMPA power agency meeting July 30 in Wilson. We need more people to fight and raise these issues with council members. The guy that gave the presentation at the Electricities meeting kept trying to put all of the blame on the cost of fuel. However, when confronted with the variable bonds issue and those huge losses, he had to admit that they had made a big mistake and it would take raising utilities rates to "cover" some of the losses. Their bond ratings are now at triple B and not triple A...if I understood that part, there is additional costs because of those lower ratings..... anyway.....things aren't looking real rosy.

There are 14 counties and 32 cities involved. We all understand the higher cost of fuel, but we also understand that there should be consequences for "mismanagement". How come all of the people who do these things never have to suffer any personal penalties?? It is like "blanket immunity" covers all of those who do wrong and we have to pick up the tab and move on. NOT. I didn't buy into some of the excuses that were given at that meeting, and unless that guy who is making the $500,000 salary and responsible for the "little error" has to cough up some extra dollars out of his own pocket, then I will continue to "fuss."

Why should we pay for his mistake? And he not pay? Their salary budget is $6 million and they likely have fluff spending in the millions and that could help cities help people with this rate increase. WHY? WHY? Does a board keep someone who is picking our pocket.

http://bluenc.com/attend-the-rate-committee-meeting%2C-ask-your-mayor-and-council-questions#comments

Dan has posted an incredible analysis of the discrepancies. I hope you will all read this.

Here is a link to that page from bluenc.com:

Dan's Analysis of the Discrepancies

Apparently my site doesn't automatically create links from the web addresses that you post and requires a little HTML.

All the talk is good to keep people informed, but we as a people of Wilson and other members of Electricities need to think of a short term fix. The CEO contract is up for renewal this summer.Call Mayor Rose tell him to vote no on renewal. Call Electricities and tell them you as a ratepayer do not want Jesse's contract renewed. Call the other members of the Board. Get City Council Members to call the Board. Long Term contract is up in 2010 for Wilson and some of the other cities. A one year notice need to be given. Think about that.

RickDewJr, Wilson

Thanks Rick.
If anyone has the phone numbers, posting them here will make it one step easier for other folks to make the calls.

Betty NeSmith

Board: Sam Noble, Tarboro 252-641-4200
Bruce Rose, Wilson 252.399.2310
Fred Turnage, Rocky Mount (252) 977-0645
Mark Williams, Wake Forest 919-554-6194
John Craft, La Grange (252) 566-3186
Ron Elks, Greenville 252-752-7166
Bob Smith, Monroe (704) 283-5804
Strib Boynton, High Point (336) 869-8839
Bill Seamone, Concord (704) 920-5301
Lacy Wilson, Fayetteville 910 483 1382
Linda Story, Granite Falls 828-396-3131
Jennie Stultz, Gastonia 704.853.0829
Richard Thomas, Lexington (336) 248-4665
Jerry Cox, Huntersville (704) 875-9182 (he is not working for the town any more)

Key Questions: What is the real cost increase for transmission? They have said $3 million (press release) and $6 million (quote to Wilson paper). Which is it? Why does it change?

Coal and nuclear costs $21 million. But the agency converted a portion of the debt from fixed-rate loans to variable-interest loans in 2004. The refinancing went from saving $10.5 million per year to costing an additional $12 million per year. That's a swing of $22.5 million, which is more than the $12 million and $9 million projected for additional coal and nuclear fuel combined. Why are they saying fuel costs when there is a huge cost for this mismanaged refinancing?

In late April, Fitch rating Agency issued a press release and made the following comment:
The agency (ElectriCities) believes the forecasted 7% to 9% rate increase later this year should capture working capital needs of the agency for the next two to three years.

QUESTION: DID the ElectriCities management tell Fitch Rating Agency that a 7-9% rate increase would capture the needs? What changed after they said that in April to now when it's 14%? That's at least a 5-point swing, and a difference of at least $30 million. Why?

Tell them ElectriCities needs new management and a new CEO so they should vote “no” to renew his contract next month. Tell your city council to vote “no” to renew the cities' contracts with ElectriCities in 2010.

We are planning a press event to point out the misinformation from ElectriCities to cities to us!

If you want to help with the planning, email ALMAN on www.bluenc.com or RICKDEWJR on www.bluenc.com

Thanks,
Tam

http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/local/content/news/
stories/2008/07/13/electricities.html

But still, not the whole story.

However, see how Sam Noble and Fred Turnage defend their man. Why is that?

What co-ops have salaries like Tilton's? None I have found. Lets see some facts Mr. Noble. What other entities have increases like this from bad refinancing Mr. Turnage? We keep hearing it but where are those entities and what are the ramifications. Where are the FACTS.

And what about the double digit salary increases staff got to drive up Tilton's salary increase? How much were those and who got them? Tilton gave many of them and the documents have been floating around for a while now. He pumped one guy up at least 60% over 5 years - Clay Norris. When you have a posse of people making more than $200,000 you have too many people making too much money on our backs!!

And what about a list of settlements Tilton told the commissioners about - how much was that?

Still no answer to the discrepancies between what ElectriCities says and what they write.