NEW YEAR, NEW POWER SOURCE:
City of Concord, North Carolina to begin receiving power from NTE Energy January 1 T he new year will bring a new source of cleaner, more efficient energy to residents of Concord, North Carolina, when the city begins receiving power from NTE Energy.
January 1 will mark the beginning of a 20year power purchase agreement between NTE and Concord that local officials say will generate significant wholesale energy cost savings for the city. “Concord Electric Systems has a long history and a reputation in our community for reliable hometown public power,” said Concord Mayor Bill Dusch. "In addition to celebrating 115 years of providing this service to the community, 2019 will mark a new chapter for our customers and the professionals who keep the system running every day." "The City of Concord is thrilled with our new partnership with NTE Energy and look forward to the energy stability we will be able to offer our citizens for at least the next 20 years,” added City Manager Lloyd Payne. Seth Shortlidge, NTE’s chief executive officer, noted that NTE’s natural gasfired, combined-cycle facilities produce up to 50 percent more energy from the same amount of fuel while producing far less emissions than plants that run on coal or other less efficient fuels.
“NTE’s facilities are among the cleanest and most efficient energy sources in the Carolinas,” Shortlidge said, “and that efficiency translates into tangible economic benefits for the local communities we serve. Through its agreement with NTE, the City of Concord will enjoy reliable electricity with significantly increased economics for years to come.”
"We have been looking forward to January 1, 2019 since entering into the agreement with NTE in 2014," said Concord Electric Systems Director Bob Pate. "Our customers will benefit from more efficiency and the ability to invest more resources into our local power grid." Concord is one of four Carolina communities that will begin receiving power from NTE on January 1. In addition to Concord, Kings Mountain, North Carolina and the South Carolina communities of McCormick and Greenwood PWC are also slated to begin long-term service from NTE on that day. They will join the North Carolina communities of Winterville, Black Creek, Lucama, Sharpsburg and Stantonsburg, which began receiving power from NTE earlier this year. NTE’s most recent plant addition is its Kings Mountain Energy facility located in Cleveland County, North Carolina. NTE
12 • CONCORD CITY CIRCULAR • WINTER 2019 • concordnc.gov
also currently operates the Middletown (Ohio) Energy Center and is constructing another 475-megawatt natural gasfired plant in Reidsville, North Carolina. The company is also developing the Fayetteville Solar Energy Center, a 30-megawatt facility that will provide an affordable source of clean, renewable energy to customer communities and utilities in the Carolinas through NTE’s SolarSelect program.