(Source: The Wilson Daily Times)By Rochelle Moore, The Wilson Daily Times, N.C.

Feb. 25–Customers asked for relief and complained about high electricity bills during a meeting of the N.C. Eastern Municipal Power Agency Wednesday in Wilson.

Rocky Mount residents Jerry Mozell and Cynthia Jahi along with Wilson resident Robert James said the rates are unbearable this year and asked if the NCEMPA board could lessen the burden.

"Our bills in Rocky Mount are grossly unjust …," Jahi said, adding that rates have been hard on some residents since Hurricane Floyd in 1999. "People in Rocky Mount have suffered since Floyd."

Jahi said 1,200 people have signed a petition asking for a reduction in electric rates and that Rocky Mount’s debt as a member of NCEMPA be forgiven, since residents played no role in decisions in the 1980s that led to the formation of the public-power agency. Jahi represents Utilities Working Group of the People’s Assembly, a grassroots community group.

Jahi told the NCEMPA board some customers are receiving utility bills that exceed $1,000, a similar picture for some Wilson Energy customers. Residents are also experiencing high bills even after homes have been weatherized and during vacations when the electricity usage is lower than normal, she said.