Rocky Mount utility debt tied to Enkemper sale paid off, council told

Councilman Daughtridge reported to the Rocky Mount City Council that the city’s share of long-standing debt issued through the North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency (referred to in the meeting as Enkemper) has been paid off.

Daughtridge said the agency issued debt in the 1980s to purchase generating-asset ownership shares and that, following a sale of Enkemper’s generating assets to Duke Energy Progress, members completed a debt payoff schedule. “As of July 1, we no longer have that debt hanging over Rocky Mount,” Daughtridge said, adding that the sale and subsequent wholesale power supply agreement produced lower average wholesale rates for agency members.

Daughtridge said the sale and agreements reduced wholesale costs and that the savings have been passed through in part to retail customers, making local rates more competitive. He said the city continues to hold its own utility assets and praised city utility leadership. He also referenced an estimated annual savings figure reported by local reporter Bill West: “It’s right at $6,500,000 savings a year, I think, where about $560,000 a month that that we’re saving,” Daughtridge said; he prefaced the figure by noting the reporter’s coverage.

City staff and council members noted outages elsewhere in the region but said Rocky Mount had avoided similar events. Daughtridge thanked utility staff present for their work and framed the debt payoff as positive news for the city and its customers.

No formal council action was required on this item; Daughtridge presented the update during the city-manager’s community-update portion of the meeting.