Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Residents, council talk electricity again

There were several heated moments during a meeting of the Prescott City Council Thursday night. The meeting was called in an attempt by the city to answer questions related to the citys electric bills which some residents say are out of proportion with bills from other companies. What resulted was presentations by several city consultants and some heated exchanges by members of the audience, council and representatives of Entergy.

Entergys officials and those representing the city disagreed on several key points, including whether Entergy has engaged in predatory practices and/or pricing during the citys change from use of Entergy as a power producer and use of an alternative company - the Arkansas Electric Cooperative Commission.

While city officials - including the Little Rock attorney hired to represent the city on such issues - claimed the Entergys practices are wrong, Entergy has maintained that they are heavily regulated and have not done anything outside their normal operating procedure. They lay the blame back on the city for making poor estimates of load rates.

While theres been extensive talk about fuel adjustment charges, Entergy official Mike Mauldin said his company is simply able to provide power more cheaply than AECC.

Mauldin addressed Prescott Mayor Howard Taylor, saying the two had been friends for some time.

Mauldin cited the companys previous offer of $2.7 million to purchase the electric system, but said the company wasnt interested in doing business locally due to the current climate.

City attorney Glenn Vasser said hed been among those who considered that selling the citys electric system had initially appealed to him, but said hed later come to the conclusion that it wasnt a good move for the city.

Several times, the audience became vocal. Prescott Police Chief Brian Russell at one point requested that Williams join him in the hallway where he told her that the only way to get answers regarding the issue was to keep order.

The meeting ended well after 9 p.m. with the only action taken being unanimous approval for the citys Little Rock attorney to file a complaint regarding Entergys charges if other remedies arent successful.