Working Hard to Keep Your Electric Rates Down

What has the City of Washington done to keep rates down?

• Implemented residential load management and industrial customer generation to reduce the need to purchase high-price peak-period electricity
• Streamlined operations and maintenance
• Keeping vacancies open.
• Investing in staff training to enhance skill level
• Using outside contractors, rather than maintaining extra staff, for construction projects and storm response
• Undertaking system improvements to improve operating efficiency and reduce power losses
• Reducing residential rates by 5% to give customers some immediate rate relief when operating costs decreased in 1999 (due to local debt retirement)
• From 1990 to January 2003, absorbed cummulative wholesale rate increases totalling 19.5% instead of passing on these higher costs to customers.
• Continuing to improve operating efficiency, such as exploring use of automated meter reading
• Exploring regionalization. Can cities in the electric business save money by sharing resources? Washington and Kinston are participating in a pilot project in association with ElectriCities.
• Continuing to provide quality service at a reasonable price to our customers.
• In 2008, debt service on power plant construction will begin going down. Electric rate reductions may be possible at that time.

--Revised April 2003, Communications Office