Aug. 25–North Carolina’s power-supplying cities, including Wilson, need to become more competitive in price with the state’s private utilities, ElectriCities CEO T. Graham Edwards said Monday.

But narrowing that difference will take years, not months.

"How do you move an elephant? An inch at a time," Edwards said during the Wilson Rotary Club’s meeting.

Edwards, a South Carolina native, began work June 22 as the new chief executive officer of ElectriCities Inc. of North Carolina, which represents all the state’s cities and towns that sell electricity.

Former CEO Jesse Tilton III resigned in November following months of controversy over recent rates hike.

Rotary Club members asked Edwards tough questions, mostly related to the higher cost of electricity in Wilson.

"They have Progress Energy in Nash County, and we just can’t compete," said David West. "How can you buy energy from Progress Energy, resell it and compete with them?"

"Very carefully," Edwards said.

Edwards will work with the ElectriCities board and staff to reduce the agency’s costs, plus seek deals to lower the price of its power, he said.

But many costs, such as the debt for financing in nuclear power plants, will continue to drive power rates. Around 38 percent of the cities’ cost of power is debt service.

"When I was interviewing for the job, I told the board that if you’re looking for someone to reduce the rate by 20 percent overnight, I’m not your man," Edwards said. "But there’s an opportunity over the next three to five years, if we can keep our rates steady, that we’ll become more competitive."

Edwards has a lengthy record in public power. From 2006-2009, he was the chief executive officer of Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO) in Carmel, Ind., which provides open electric transmission access in 14 Midwest states as well as the providence of Manitoba, Canada. He earlier worked for the S.C. Public Service Authority (Santee Cooper) for more than 23 years in various roles, including chairman.

He is a 1976 MBA graduate of The Citadel and a 1975 graduate of Francis Marion University.

ElectriCities represents 51 communities that serve more than 500,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers with annual revenues of $1.2 billion.