Q. What is the agreement being considered between North Carolina Municipal Power Agency Number 1 and Central Electric Power Cooperative, Inc.?
A. North Carolina Municipal Power Agency Number 1 (NCMPA1) and Central Electric Power Cooperative, Inc. reached a Purchase Power Agreement enabling Central to purchase nuclear capacity and energy associated with a portion of NCMPA1’s ownership interest in the Catawba Nuclear Station.
Q. Who owns the Catawba Nuclear Station? What portion of Catawba Nuclear Station does NCMPA1 own?
A. The Catawba Nuclear Station, which consists of two identical units, is jointly owned by NCMPA1, Duke Energy Carolinas, Piedmont Municipal Power Agency, and the North Carolina Electric Membership Corporation. NCMPA1 owns 75% of Catawba Unit 2.
Q. What is the North Carolina Municipal Power Agency Number 1 (NCMPA1)?
A. NCMPA1 consists of 19 cities and towns in piedmont and western North Carolina and provides wholesale power to its 19 participants. NCMPA1 is governed by a Board of Commissioners (BOC). Each participant appoints a Commissioner and an Alternate Commissioner to the BOC. The BOC monitors operations of the Power Agency, accepts/rejects wholesale rates, approves the annual budget, and elects their representatives to the ElectriCities Board of Directors. The BOC meets quarterly.
Q. What North Carolina communities make up NCMPA1?
A. Albemarle, Bostic, Cherryville, Cornelius, Drexel, Gastonia, Granite Falls, High Point, Huntersville, Landis, Lexington, Lincolnton, Maiden, Monroe, Morganton, Newton, Pineville, Shelby, Statesville.
Q. What percentage of NCMPA1’s Catawba ownership is Central purchasing? What is the total MW?
A. Under the terms of the Purchase Power Agreement, Central will receive 18% of NCMPA1’s project output, totaling 150 MW.
Q. What are the agreement’s benefits to NCMPA1?
A. If completed, the agreement would diversify NCMPA1’s energy resource portfolio and provide wholesale electric rate savings to NCMPA1’s 19 member communities. Our analysis shows 5% savings in wholesale power supply costs over the term of the contract for approximately $254 million in net present value total savings to those communities.
Q. What are the agreement’s benefits to Central?
A. The agreement would provide Central, a not-for-profit generation and transmission cooperative, with additional nuclear capacity to serve South Carolina’s 20 distribution cooperatives.
Q. What conditions need to be met for the agreement to take effect?
A. Completion of the agreement is subject to several conditions including unanimous consent of all 19 of the NCMPA1 participant city and town councils. As of Aug. 30, all 19 participant councils voted unanimously to approve the agreement. The ElectriCities Board of Directors and NCMPA1 Board of Commissioners approved the deal earlier this year.
Q. Are any state or federal regulatory agencies required to sign off on the agreement?
A. No.
Q. When does the agreement take effect?
A. Should all conditions be met, the sale would be effective January 1, 2024.
Q. What is the term of the deal?
A. The term of the deal is the life of the Catawba Nuclear Station which is currently licensed through 2043.
Q. What is ElectriCities of North Carolina, Inc.?
A. ElectriCities of North Carolina, Inc. is the membership organization that provides power supply and related critical services to over 90 community-owned electric systems in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia—collectively known as public power. ElectriCities manages the power supply for two power agencies in North Carolina and provides technical services to assist members in operating their electric distribution systems. ElectriCities also helps these locally owned and operated public power providers thrive today and in the future by delivering innovative services, including legislative, technical, communications, and economic development expertise.
Q. What is Central Electric Power Cooperative, Inc.?
A. Central Electric Power Cooperative, Inc. is a not-for-profit generation and transmission cooperative headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina. Together, Central and its 20 member cooperatives serve more than 1.6 million South Carolinians and cover more than 70% of the state’s land mass. South Carolina’s independent, member-owned electric cooperatives formed Central in 1948 in order to pool their resources to purchase wholesale power more efficiently and effectively. As explained in its mission statement, Central “exists solely for the benefit of its members” and one of Central’s most important jobs is to plan for the future power supply needs of its member cooperatives.