The City of New Bern has decided to reduce electric rates by 12%. They will also RAISE rates an additional 2% effective April 2016. An additional 3% electric rate reduction is also expected to take effect July 1st.
So it's a total reduction of 15%, not the 30%+ that some posters keep claiming.
This saving comes as a result of the pending $1.2 billion asset sale to Duke Energy progress. At this point, all 32 cities involved in the ElectriCities sale have agreed to the transaction. The deal is expected to officially close by July 31st.
Tuesday evening the Board of Alderman voted 5 to 2 in favor of the 12% rate reduction. Along with this also comes a 2% rate increase that would begin April 2016.
Alderman Victor Taylor expressed concern over this rate reduction option. He said he would prefer more conservative reductions that would ideally last longer.
"I don't understand and I don't like giving a person a discount and then taking part of it back and that's the way it sounds like," Alderman Taylor said.
For New Bern residents and businesses like Captain Ratty's, a rate reduction is good news especially during a time when a continued heat wave is raising electric bills.
"It'll be a wonderful benefit because our electric bill runs into thousands of dollars so if we can get $700 or $800 dollars chopped off that that would be enormous-- that would be wonderful," Tom Ballance, owner at Captain Ratty's said.
An additional 3% electric rate reduction is also expected to take effect July 1st.
More electric rate reductions coming to New Bern | News - WCTI NewsChannel 12
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