…If we truly wanted price stabilization, we’d stop wasting time at local city council meetings and NCEMPA meeting.  We’d ask the Governor to get the NC Utility Commission involved….

The N.C. Eastern Municipal Power Agency board approved a 2010 budget nearly identical to this year’s spending plan on Wednesday.

The board unanimously voted for a $706 million budget. That’s down from $712 million this year, mostly due to expectations of reduced energy consumption.  Which, by the way, has nothing to do with a greater oversight of either NCEMPA or ElectriCities. 

The budget does not affect the wholesale electrical rates the 32 NCEMPA members pay, but officials do not expect wholesale rates to change before summer 2010, the next scheduled rate review.

Keep in mind that most of this is nothing more than smoke and mirrors because if there were a drastic need to increase wholesale electric rates NCEMPA could pass those cost along in less than a month. 

This so-called price stabilization is not due to a greater oversight of the agencies or a reduction or streamlining of ElectriCities.  That would be too much to ask for.

ElectriCities and NCEMPA can not control the price set by overall markets or Progress Energy for that matter. If we truly wanted price stabilization, we’d stop wasting time at local city council meetings and NCEMPA meeting.  We’d ask the Governor to get the NC Utility Commission involved.