Still saddled with more than $2 billion in debt that inflates customers’ bills by as much as 50 percent, 32 North Carolina towns and cities should consider all options, including selling their stake in five power plants, say state lawmakers.
Debt service accounts for as much as 35 percent of electricity bills for customers in Apex, Wake Forest, Clayton, Rocky Mount and 28 other eastern North Carolina municipalities.
The debt dates from the late 1970s, when the towns formed the North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency and borrowed more than $3.5 billion to help fund construction of the five power plants.
Their share of the plants – Shearon Harris Nuclear Plant near Holly Springs in Wake County, two nuclear units near Wilmington, on the coast, and two coal plants in Person County – produces about 75 percent of the electricity their residents use.
