Westminster faces 4% hike in wholesale power costs

To what extent, if any, Westminster raises electric power rates is a matter left to the mayor and the six city council members. But Mayor Rick McCormick said it’s an issue, a touchy one for which city leaders have yet to start discussions. The mayor spoke briefly to 96.3/WGOG NEWS yesterday about the decision last month by Westminster’s power provider to raise the wholesale charge by 4%. “Some things we are looking at as alternatives, but I can’t make any details about it,” McCormick said last evening at City Hall. A Mexican restaurant, El Jimador, for whom the city conducted a rate study, is announcing plans to re-open its business. Some Westminster residents have complained that the city’s retail electric rates, calculated to meet supply costs from the Piedmont Municipal Power Agency, are counter-productive to business through out the city. McCormick says the average residential rate paid by a Westminster customer is $136 dollars a month.