Duke’s purchase of the town’s part of its plants could mean lower Wake Forest Power rates
On Tuesday, Feb. 4, it was announced that the North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency (NCEMPA) and Duke Energy Progress had begun negotiations about the potential sale of NCEMPA’s ownership in five Duke Energy Progress-operated plants: Brunswick Nuclear Plant Units 1 and 2 (Brunswick County), Mayo Plant Unit 1 (Person County), Roxboro Plant Unit 4 (Person County) and the Harris Nuclear Plant (Wake County), totaling approximately 700 megawatts of generating capacity.
This has the potential to impact Wake Forest and its Wake Forest Power customers because the town is an NCEMPA member, owning a 0.7262 share in each of the five plants and owing about $1.5 million of the total NCEMPA debt of $2 billion. Under the current contract, the last payment would be Jan. 1, 2026.
Wiping out all or part of the town’s debt would reduce the cost of electricity to the 6,057 Wake Forest Power customers because the town-owned electric system is operated as a separate enterprise fund which has to pay all its costs, including the debt repayment, from its revenues.
Should a potential agreement be reached in this matter, Duke Energy Progress and NCEMPA would enter into a wholesale power contract to meet the needs of NCEMPA customers, including Wake Forest, currently served by the Power Agency’s interest in Duke Energy Progress plants.
“For quite some time NCEMPA has acknowledged that it is open to selling its generation assets,” said Wake Forest Mayor and ElectriCities Board Member Vivian Jones. “Now that Duke Energy Progress has indicated an interest in reaching a deal, we have agreed to negotiate exclusively with them for the next several months.”
These exclusive discussions are to acquire NCEMPA’s interest in generation plants only. As a public power provider, the Town of Wake Forest would continue to own and operate its electric distribution system.
“This is one point I want to be very clear about,” said Jones. “If NCEMPA were to reach a deal with Duke Energy Progress, it would not affect our distribution system or our employees. The Town of Wake Forest would continue to own and operate Wake Forest Power.”
Although the parties are in discussions, no definitive agreement has been reached. ElectriCities will continue to negotiate all aspects of any potential transaction considering the best interest of NCEMPA participants and their customers and achieving the maximum mutual benefit for North Carolina.
Any potential transaction would take many months to complete, with various aspects of the transaction subject to approval by, among others, the boards of Duke Energy and NCEMPA, and appropriate state and federal agencies. This transaction would not require Duke Energy shareholder approval.
“We are at the very beginning of what is expected to be a long and complicated process,” added Jones. “Nothing has been decided yet. This could be a positive step for NCEMPA and for the town – but only time will tell. We will keep our customers and our residents informed as discussions continue.”
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