High Point City Council member Latimer Alexander voted against Electricities Board of Directors’ plan to refinance its $1.35 billion debt:
ElectriCities projects that the cost of the restructuring would be $89 million, with High Point’s share of this about $20.4 million.
“(Other board members) continued to say the cost of the refinancing is nominal, and I said, ‘Are you telling me $89 million is nominal?’ And they said it was because it’s over 16 years,” said Alexander. “The cost to High Point is not nominal. Those are real numbers. The bottom line for High Point electric customers is, the refinancing costs you $21 million more.”
The debt restructuring plan is driven by other cities’ desire to lower their electric rates short-term. Alexander says the refinancing plan jeopardizes High Point’s projections for “a 5 percent rate increase this year, then no rate increase at all over the next five years, and then a very substantial, double-digit rate reduction five years from now.”
