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Fayetteville utilities report: cold-weather resilience, fiber upgrades and legal review of FPU appointment process
Summary
Public Utilities CEO Britt Dye reported minimal storm failures, progress on telecom fiber upgrade, December energy and gas usage figures and said city attorneys are reviewing whether the Board of Public Utilities appointment process followed proper holdover rules.
Britt Dye, chief executive officer of Fayetteville Public Utilities, told the city board Jan. 14 that the recent cold snap produced only a handful of service calls and that line crews who assisted in Kentucky have returned. Dye outlined ongoing work on tree trimming, repairs to water leaks and a telecom fiber upgrade project moving through the eastern county.
Dye also recited recent usage figures and raised a governance concern about prior appointments to the Fayetteville Public Utilities (FPU) board, saying he asked the utility’s attorney to research applicable law and consult with the city attorney to confirm whether holdover appointees were serving properly.
Why it matters: the utilities report covered near-term operational readiness for winter weather, planned infrastructure upgrades to fiber-to-the-home and a review of board appointment procedures that could affect governance at the Board of Public Utilities.
Operational update
Dye said the system handled the recent cold weather with few customer calls and that the city’s line crew returned from mutual-aid work in Kentucky. He reported 399 miles of telecom line installed in the eastern part of the county, with 2,743 homes passed and 686 hooked up to service so far; the telecom upgrade will replace legacy coax infrastructure with fiber-to-the-home.
Dye gave municipal electricity and gas usage figures for November and December 2024 to illustrate seasonal variation. For example, the report noted December 2024 retail electricity billing at about 36,998,163 kilowatt-hours compared with 34,948,364 kWh in December 2023; gas dekatherm figures were included in the board packet as well.
Legal review of FPU appointments
Dye said that, after concerns raised at a recent work session about the legality of certain appointments to the FPU board, he asked the utility’s attorney to research the issue and consult with the city attorney, Mr. Hill. Dye reported that the utility’s counsel and the FPU attorney both referenced a Tennessee constitutional provision and indicated that holdover appointees are expected to remain in place until replaced.
Dye described the situation as one that required an official opinion and advised that the board would likely receive further legal guidance. No formal board action was taken on appointments at the Jan. 14 meeting; several nominations were postponed to allow absent board members to participate in future votes.
Ending: Dye said staff would continue infrastructure maintenance and follow up on the legal review; board members did not take further action during the meeting.
