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Town paid $1.2M of a $3.5M AMP purchase-power bill and schedules public AMP information session
Summary
Town Manager Joe Warner said Bedford received a $3.5 million purchase-power bill from AMP after prolonged winter weather; the town covered approximately $1.2 million of that cost from electric-fund reserves rather than taking an AMP financing offer, and an AMP representative is tentatively scheduled for April 14 to explain the utility situation.
Town Manager Joe Warner reported at the Feb. 25 meeting that the town had received a $3,500,000 bill for power purchased through AMP driven largely by extended winter weather. He said the town paid the bill in full from the electric fund's cash reserves — an amount that represented approximately $1,200,000 more in purchase-power cost than was billed to customers for the month of February — rather than accept AMP's offer to finance $1,200,000 at a 4.6% interest rate.
Warner said the town made the payment to avoid additional interest costs, retain interest earnings on fund cash, and preserve the town's debt capacity for longer-term strategic needs. He told the council staff is arranging a public meeting with an AMP representative to "share and gain information about the electric utility" and that April 14 was a tentative date for that session.
Resident Anne Long used public comment to say many customers had not received their monthly bills and asked that the town explain billing breakdowns; a staff member confirmed a mailing error by the billing contractor, said bills should start mailing that day and stated the town would not charge late-payment penalties because of the mailing mistake.
Council members said they were glad the town is pursuing public communication about the bills and reiterated that several factors — weather-driven usage, PJM/market charges, and an earlier rate increase — contributed to higher costs. The town has not announced final decisions about rate adjustments; the AMP information session was presented as a public meeting for questions and answers.
