Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Electric bills subject of meeting

A group of Prescott residents and business owners have planned a meeting for Aug. 17 at the Nevada County Courthouse to discuss electric bills in the city. The meeting is slated to begin at 7 p.m., according to Kevin Cole.

Cole said he is a local resident and has questions about the energy bills for both residents and businesses in Prescott. He said the fact that he hasnt gotten satisfactory answers to his questions prompted his interest in meeting with others who are also concerned.

Several area business people are citing higher-than-normal bills. Larry McKamie said the utility bill at Sexton Foods has forced some difficult decisions as hes searched for ways to make up the difference.

Questions about utility bills first began to arise more than a month ago. Initially, the citys response was that there had been a mistake calculating the bills and that the fuel adjustments seemed to be incorrect.

Later, Prescott Mayor Howard Taylor said the bills were correct. He attributed the higher amounts to summer heat and increasing cost of producing electricity. Several Nevada County residents and business owners say they arent satisfied with that answer and that they want to know more about the process and the citys contract for power.

The City of Prescott does have a contract with the Arkansas Electric Cooperative Cooperation. The 12-page document outlines the rights and responsibilities of the city and the electric company.

When the Nevada County Picayune first called for that contract, Taylor said he couldnt locate the document. A written request for the document citing the states Freedom of Information Act was delivered to the mayors office on Aug. 9.

The FOI states that public records must be made available immediately upon request unless those documents are in storage or in active use. That law does not apply only to documents sought by newspapers, but is applicable for anyone.

On Aug. 11, Taylor said he would have to consult with Prescott City Attorney Glenn Vasser before releasing the document. Following an additional verbal request for the document, Taylor agreed to contact the states Municipal League regarding the issue.

Prescott City Hall Office Manager Billy House subsequently notified the Picayune that the contract was available.

The contract outlines the fact that AECC will provide electricity to the city and that the city will purchase electricity from AECC, but there are no dollar figures included in the documents.

There appears to be a question regarding the amount - if any - being charged by Entergy. Taylor said several weeks ago that part of the charges included in the AECC bills passed on to customers were from Entergy for the use of the Entergy lines and substation. On Aug. 11, Taylor was asked, Do we pay Entergy anything at all. Taylors response was, No. We dont pay Entergy anything.

The question of electrical power in the city has been an on-going issue for more than a year. The contract between AECC and the city was executed on Sept. 9, 2005, but was not effective until earlier this year pending the completion of several negotiation points.