Laurinburg residents to see uptick in electric bill

LAURINBURG —Laurinburg residents will soon see an uptick in their electricity bills.

The city council voted unanimously this week to amend the electric rate schedule by increasing the revenue in the electric fund by $13.9%. This would mean, the average electric bill will see a $12.01 increase monthly, according to the Laurinburg city manager.

“With all that said, speaking of competition, that would take the city’s average bill up to $133, still well below Duke Energy Progress,” said City Manager Charles Nichols III.

Discussion on a possible increase is nothing new. The city budgeted last year to have a rate study completed.

“This was a deep dive by UFC and ElectriCities to analyze numbers, where we’re at and make sure we have the cash we need moving forward to make those improvements,” Nichols said.

Nichols also said they “looked at the industry. They also kept into consideration our competitive advantage.”

According to the city manager, Laurinburg has not seen a rate increase since 2015.

“We’ve had two decreases in that timeline … I think council’s done a great job for nine years being able to kind of not have any increases [and] have decreases,” Nichols said.

The rising cost in natural gas prices is a major factor in the need for a revenue increase.

“Natural gas prices for the past two years has continued to hit NCEMPA (North Carolina Eastern Municipalities Power Agency) and really all utilities,” Nichols said.

NCEMPA consists of 32 municipalities, including Laurinburg, that own their electric systems.