Cherryville Approves PPA, Anticipates Future Electric Savings
By: Grace Smith – Wise News Network
CHERRYVILLE, NC (WNN) – The Cherryville City Council unanimously voted on a Power Purchase Agreement with Electricities. This agreement is coupled with Central Electric Power Cooperative, Inc. (Central), allowing the organization to purchase nuclear capacity from the Catawba Nuclear Station in South Carolina.
Roy Jones, a spokesperson for Electricities, came to the Cherryville City Council Work Session on Aug. 29, 2023, to address the PPA with the City Council. According to its website, Electricities is a company that manages the power supply for two North Carolina agencies. It represents NCMPA1.
Cherryville is a part of the North Carolina Municipal Power Agency Number 1, a wholesale power supplier that distributes power to 19 cities and towns across western and piedmont areas of North Carolina.
In this PPA, all 19 municipalities of NCMPA1 have to agree to sell some of their ownership in the Catawba Nuclear Station to Central. Selling this power gives NCMPA1 the opportunity to diversify its power supply portfolio. According to Electricities’ website, NCMPA1 owns 75% of Catawba Unit 2.ย
“So far, with all the [municipalities], it’s been unanimous.” said Jones. ย
Central wants 18% of NCMPA1’s ownership of the plant. This equates to 150 megawatts of energy.ย
Jones advised the City Council to consider this agreement, as it could end up saving Cherryville money over the next several years. Jones presented a chart to the City Council that showed how much money Cherryville could save between 2024 and 2031.
“The savings to the 19 communities is $3.77 million,” Jones said, “15% immediate wholesale rate reduction; At the wholesale level it’ll get 15%, then when that rate reduction comes to Cherryville, you all will make the decision here at the local level, about what to do with that rate reduction.”
The PPA gives the Cherryville City Council the opportunity to invest the money that is saved back into the community.
After hearing the presentation, the Cherryville City Council voted unanimously to accept this agreement.
“This is one of the fairest deals.” said Jill Puett, a City Council member.ย
Cherryville was the seventeenth municipality to accept this agreement, with the deadline for acceptance being Sep. 1, 2023.