What is Public Power?: Public Power 101
Public power in communities means opportunity for communities.
Since 1909, Wake Forest has operated its own not-for-profit power infrastructure that has fueled quality of life, spurred economic growth, and helped create a rich atmosphere of local access and community advantage. Every year, during the first week of October, Wake Forest joins more than 2,000 public power communities nationwide who are members of the American Public Power Association (APPA) in a celebration of public power.
As one of 25 APPA-recognized communities in North Carolina, Wake Forest stands among the top 10 percent of public power utilities in the nation providing the highest degree of reliable and safe electric service, with annual awards as a Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3) since 2007.
“Providing public power allows us to respond faster and more efficiently to the needs of businesses than privately owned utilities,” said Magda Holloway, Public Works Director for the Town of Wake Forest. Now serving nearly 8,000 customers locally and connecting the community with nearly 500 miles of underground and overhead power lines, Wake Forest Power keeps the lights on in businesses and homes an astounding 99.9% of the time.
Economic development and public power hold a unique relationship. Not only does public power give communities the control to make local decisions that best suit local needs and values, but it also stimulates economic prosperity, translating into better living conditions for the entire community. The ability of local governments to provide streamlined, “one-stop” customer services encourages businesses to maintain and expand their local footprint and attracts new businesses. The opportunity that comes with low, not-for-profit electric rates, particularly for the tech and industrial sectors, means public power businesses get to spend more on other areas of operation. More money directed towards their immediate needs creates stronger, more stable jobs for local citizens, who further stimulate the local economy.
“As a Public Power agency, we are able to be more hands on with each project,” said Holloway. “All the money spent in this community stays in this community.”
North Carolina currently ranks among the top 10 providers of public power in the nation. Although public power is a not-for-profit municipal enterprise, it reflects entrepreneurial trends already present in the community and region by allowing the Town of Wake Forest to be both innovative and make major economic contributions back into the community. Unlike their commercial counterparts, public power entities are able to service just one constituency: their community. By the nature of public power, it is aligned with the community’s own strategic goals, the chief of those in the Town of Wake Forest being economic development. The merging of opportunity provided through public power and innovation led by the Town’s strategic vision has created a platform for the community’s entrepreneurial spirit to thrive.
In line with many of its progressive Smart City initiatives, Wake Forest already utilizes Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), a state of the art technology that allows remote meter monitoring.. The Town is further working to meet the needs of customers through expansive electric vehicle studies, by investigating battery technologies to strengthen the electric grid, and further developing load management opportunities in order to help shed loads during peak times so that the costs of power remain low.
In addition to tangible community innovation that is created through public power, there are numerous distinct characteristics that this localized resource brings to homes and businesses:
Outstanding local customer service
Responsiveness to customer concerns - every citizen is an owner with a direct say in policies
Quick response from crews who live in the community
Not-for-profit status - lower costs and no split allegiance between customers and stockholders
Access to tax-exempt financing for capital projects
Cash flow of the utility, which may be channeled through local government treasury
Improved local government efficiency through sharing of personnel, equipment and supplies
Local management and operations bring added community leadership for innovation and development
Recognized commitment to conservation, safety and the environment
Local control over special programs (energy conservation, rate relief for certain customer classes, etc.)
Local control over the electric distribution system’s aesthetics and design
Electricities serves as a non-for-profit membership organization of municipally owned electric utilities that works as a state and federal level advocate and provides a number of unique services. According to Electricities, roughly 10 percent of North Carolina’s communities are run on public power. It is noteworthy then that these communities have consistently won more than a quarter of statewide project announcements over the past several years.
“There are few assets as unique as public power for a community,” said Kip Padgett, Town Manager for the Town of Wake Forest. “The significance of Wake Forest owning and operating its own electric system empowers our community to reach our strategic goals faster. It is a tremendous benefit to businesses in that they know we’ll keep the lights on and keep the costs low. It also improves quality of life, boosts the Town’s cash flow, which is invested right back into the community, and so much more. We’re proud to be a public power community and I see everyday that Wake Forest is better because of it.”
This year, Wake Forest and communities across the nation celebrated Public Power Week during the first full week of October. As a result of COVID-19, annual events in Wake Forest celebrating utility workers and promoting the value of public power were canceled for 2020 with the hope of returning in 2021. Learn more about how Wake Forest celebrated this year here.
Discover more about public power in North Carolina
While each public power utility is different, reflecting its hometown characteristics and values, all have a common purpose: providing customers in the community with safe, reliable, not-for-profit electricity at a reasonable price while protecting the environment.
The Future of Energy: Innovating & Integrating for Sustainability
Over three quarters of residential and commercial customers say that renewable energy is important to them. (While many are not ready to pay for it, they look for utilities to deliver solutions at minimal costs.) Discover the numbers here.
Homegrown Power: Celebrating Public Power in Wake Forest
This article uses data and resources from the following:
American Public Power Association
