WF Power residential rates to rise twice

Chief Financial Officer Aileen Staples had warned the mayor and town commissioners – and town residents who use Wake Forest Power – that the residential power rates had to be adjusted upward back during the town board retreat in January. She had mentioned increases of 6 percent.
Therefore, the shock was not total Tuesday night when Staples said the residential rates will have to be adjusted upward by a total of 19 percent – increases of 9.5 percent in both April and September –to cover the increased costs the town’s electric department faces in equipment and manpower.
For a home using an average of 935 kWh per month that now is paying $126.87 a month or $1,522.42 a year will pay $136.55 a month or $1,638.55 a year in April and $147.14 a month or $1,765.71 a year in September. The individual bills also include a $25 basic customer charge.
Commissioner Adam Wright voiced what other commissioners felt: “I am trying to find any way not to have such an increase.” Staples said she would look at the numbers and the recommendations from the town’s fiscal advisors again.
A primary reason for the need for increases in the residential rates is what Mayor Vivian Jones called the “increased costs [of needed material] are just absolutely insane.”
For example, primary cable in 2020 was $7.24 a foot and is now $19.42 a foot, and the 167 KVA transformers were $3,764 with a 12 week wait for delivery while the same transformers are now $25,567 with a 140-week wait for delivery.
Wake Forest Power can see that developers will build about 1,500 units in apartments and nursing/care homes in the next two years, meaning Wake Forest Power will have to provide between 12 and 15 transformers at each apartment or care complex. The transformers are necessary to step down the power in the town transmission lines.
Staples also cited other problems the town’s power force faces like supply chain issues, the cost of basic materials like steel have risen, there are work force problems and this winter has seen several unusual weather events outside North Carolina.
Staples noted, “We’re not alone in this,” noting the recent Duke Power increases.
All of the other parts of the electrical service such as commercial and schools will see a one-time much smaller increase, the largest being a 6 percent jump for small commercial.
The town board is scheduled to discuss the rate increases and vote on them at its March 21 business meeting.
The board also held a public hearing without public comment on the request for Forestville Road Townhomes, 61 townhouses on eight acres along Forestville Road, on land which includes a large pond which is not fed by a stream. The plan for the subdivision would build 45 of the townhouses on the pond site.
The Wake Forest Planning Board has voted four to two to recommend the town board not approve this project, in part because the pond could overflow at any time.
Among the information in the town board packet for this project was a letter from William H. Denton, the regional engineer for this area with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality. He wrote that the pond is “one of the most concerning to me.”
Also, Denton wrote, “. . . it remains structurally unsafe and could fail unexpectedly even in a sunny-day scenario.” And ” . . . the impacts would be to Forestville Road in the section adjacent to Heritage High School and the adjoining public park to the south. Traffic counts in this location are on the order of 17,000 vehicles per day and undoubtedly includes students, parents, and school buses associated with the High School. At a minimum, the potential for closure of this roadway during peak hours would be a significant disruption to traffic flow. There does not appear to be an expeditious alternate route for school traffic coming from that direction.
Kenneth Christie, a Wake Forest resident, has written to the town and spoken about his concerns. He wrote in an email today, “The first objective of the people of Bridgeport (the adjoining subdivision) and the Town of Wake Forest should have is the repair, as outlined by the DEQ, of the dam, and maintaining it until it can be properly drained. Realistically, this could take one to two years before any draining goes on.”
Christie went on to say he thinks the town board should deny this request or make approval contingent upon the repair of the dam with proof of continued maintenance along with proof that the pond will be properly drained.
The town commissioners will vote on this project at their March 21 meeting.
The board also heard about the Pavement Management program, which uses software to determine which and when streets should be treated for preservation. The town’s streets are is most valuable asset, valued at $60.7 million, and the management system would help preserve them and make them more valuable. The commissioners may vote on this on March 21.
Jeanette Johnson, the sustainability coordinator for Public Works, reported on the results of a search for the business which would pick up the town’s garbage and recycling. After several people at Public Works researched the candidates, interviewed them and then made a decision based on several criteria, Republic Services was the unanimous winner – and the current garbage and trash collector. The town commissioners voted unanimously to award the contract to Republic.
At the end of the agenda, the board, mayor, town manager and town attorney went into a closed session. Town Manager Kip Padgett said in an email, “We came out of closed session and voted to lease some space in the Merritt Business Park to house some police functions.”
The Wake Forest Police Department has totally outgrown its headquarters on South Taylor Street and has sections housed all over town. A new police headquarters has never made it onto the short list of capital expenses.
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