Fayetteville PWC adopted changes to its whole-home and whole-business rate schedules on Wednesday with the expectation of increased savings for residential and small-business customers.
The whole-home rate is offered to all customers but can be most beneficial to those who own or lease Pu an electric vehicle because they can charge vehicles at night at the lowest rate for electricity.
“The changes clarify that customers who opt in to the whole-home/whole-business rate will have the ‘super off-peak rate’ from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. daily, 365 days a year,” PWC spokeswoman Carolyn Justice-Hinson said by email after a board meeting Wednesday morning. “Peak and off-peak rates currently apply to specific times of days of the week, including weekends that are billed entirely at the off-peak rate.
“Super off-peak rates — once available to customers in February 2023 — will also apply on weekends,” Justice-Hinson said. “One of the factors in offering the ‘super off-peak is to provide customer options and to incentivize electric vehicle owners to charge vehicles during times when energy demand is at its lowest.”
The Public Works Commission initially adopted the large power service rate to offer more competitive rate structures that can benefit local economic development and help attract industry to Fayetteville, Justice-Hinson said. The changes to the large power service rate schedules do not reduce the competitiveness of PWC’s rates for large electric loads such as for industrial plants, she said.
The commission scheduled a public hearing on the recommended rate changes and a wireless attachment tariff. No one spoke during a public-comment period Wednesday.
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The wireless attachment tariff is intended to reduce administrative work for the utility and companies that ask to attach their infrastructure to PWC utility poles, Justice-Hinson said. At the same time, it limits the number of simple wireless attachments within a designated communications space on poles.
“PWC maintains nearly 50,000 poles throughout its system,” she said. “Currently, companies such as Spectrum, CenturyLink, MetroNet, etc., utilize PWC utility poles to attach equipment and wires. The new tariff improves the process and management of providing space to the telecommunication companies.”
The adjustments will take effect Friday, according to Jamie West, chief legal officer and general counsel for PWC.
West presented the rate recommendations to the commissioners.
“The primary purpose of this wireless attachment tariff is to make things easier for the attacher and for us,” West said. “The other thing that it does is it creates a set of standardized rates and charges for these attachments, which again makes things easier for everyone as much as possible.”
In other business Wednesday, Commissioner Ronna Rowe Garrett was elected chairwoman of the board for fiscal year 2022-23. Commissioner Don Porter was elected vice chairman. Outgoing Chairwoman Evelyn Shaw was selected secretary, and Wade Fowler was named treasurer.
Garrett was appointed to the utility’s board of commissioners in April 2021. A former federal government senior executive, she is currently director of client development for YRCI, a professional services firm in Fairfax, Virginia, according to the PWC website.
Interim CEO and General Manager Mick Noland reported that PWC fared well when the remnants of Hurricane Ian passed through the area.
“We did not really have any issues on the water and sewer side,” Noland said. “All in all, Ian was kind to us. We have a pretty good system.”
At the storm’s height, as many as 300 PWC customers were without power, Noland said.
“As a group, PWC did really well,” he said.
Michael Futch covers Fayetteville and education for CityView. He can be reached at mfutch@cityviewnc.com.
