Companies that are large consumers of electricity, and that open or expand their operations in or near Fayetteville, can now get a bigger discounted electricity rate from the Fayetteville Public Works Commission than they could before.
The PWC (Fayetteville’s city-owned utility for water, sewer and electrical service) had previously offered a discount to these customers. On Wednesday the board voted unanimously to make the it bigger. The vote followed a public hearing on the idea. No members of the public appeared at the hearing to offer comments on whether they supported or opposed the new discount.
The discount is designed to persuade employers to bring or expand their operations in the Fayetteville area instead of elsewhere, and to buy their electricity from the PWC instead of another provider, PWC CEO and General Manager Tim Bryant has said. The new discount takes effect July 1.
The discount is called an economic development rider. Companies that use the rider will receive discounts for five years.
The new discount is 23.76% off for the first year. It declines annually until it reaches 4.75% in the fifth year. Then the discount ends.
The old discount was 20.66% for the first year, falling annually until it reached 4.13% in the fifth year.
Bryant has previously said that to qualify for the the discount, the customer must meet certain criteria:
- It must be a new employer or an expanding employer.
- The new project must use at least 1 megawatt of power. An expansion of an existing operation must add at least 750 kilowatts of usage.
- The employer must make a capital investment of at least $400,000 on its new project or expansion, or it must bring at least 75 full-time equivalent jobs.
For many employers considering whether to open or expand in Fayetteville, the price, availability and reliability of electrical service are the deciding factors, Fayetteville Cumberland County Economic Development Corporation CEO Robert Van Geons previously told CityView. “In some cases, electricity can be 50% or more of a company’s operating costs,” he said in early June.
Senior reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at pwoolverton@cityviewnc.com.
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