Huntersville board approves notice to end management agreement with Electric Cities

The Huntersville Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Aug. 5 to approve a notice of termination for its long-standing management agreement with Electric Cities of North Carolina Inc., setting in motion a plan for the town to assume day-to-day operation of its electric distribution system. Town staffer “Miss Huffman” told the board, “If you take nothing from this discussion tonight, but this, here's your headline sentence. If you are walking around saying your electric provider is Electric Cities, that's really the town of Huntersville. The town of Huntersville today owns its own electric distribution system.” The board’s action starts a roughly 10-month transition the contract requires before the town assumes operational control. Staff described the change as a shift from a managed-services model — in which Electric Cities has carried out billing, collections and line maintenance — to a more traditional municipal model in which those functions are handled directly by town employees. Central to the discussion were logistics the town must address during the notice period: staffing (including whether Electric Cities employees will be offered town positions), vehicle and equipment ownership, billing and customer communications, and software and inventory access. Huffman said the town will ask Electric Cities to meet regularly with town staff to plan the transfer and warned there are many operational details to resolve but “we're not proposing a single employee lose their job.” An Electric Cities representative told the board, “You cannot sell the business,” emphasizing that the vote concerns management, not the ownership or sale of the distribution assets. Town staff confirmed the town will remain the owner of poles, transformers and distribution lines regardless of the operational model. Town officials noted the enterprise’s financial weight: on an interim basis for fiscal 2025 the electric fund produced roughly $34 million in revenue and represents a substantial share of the town’s budget. Staff said they do not expect major immediate cost savings from the change; rather the primary rationale is local control over service levels, communications, and closer coordination with planning, public works and emergency response. The board’s motion directed staff to give the formal notice of termination to Electric Cities and to accelerate planning work needed for a July 1, 2026 handoff if the timeline holds. Staff flagged follow-up work that includes HR coordination, equipment inventories, vendor and software access, and customer communications plans. No members of the public spoke against the motion during the meeting. The vote was unanimous.