In 11 of 12 operational areas, Washington Electric Utilities received either strong or good ratings in a review of its operations, according to a report by Hometown Connections.

The remaining operational area – strategic planning – received a fair rating.

The review, conducted by Hometown Connections, was requested by Keith Hardt, WEU’s director. Hometown Connections is a subsidiary of the American Public Power Association. Hardt asked for the review to look at WEU’s operations and identify areas that are working well and areas that need improvement. The report was reviewed with the Washington City Council on Monday.

“I think it’s just as productive as it can be to take a look at ourselves like this and I encourage any utility to do the same thing,” Mayor Archie Jennings said about the review, the first of its kind for a public-power entity in North Carolina.

“We do more right than we do wrong,” council member William Pitt said after the presentation by Tim Blodgett, president and CEO of Hometown Connections.

That was the overall message of the report.

“The electric division of Washington Utilities is well run and uniformly strong across all aspects of utility operations, including technical, financial and customer facing services,” reads the report. “The community is well served by the utility.”

The reports addresses WEU’s rates, which received three stars out of a possible four-star rating.

“Rates for Washington electric customers are competitive across all customer classes when compared to other North Carolina utilities,” reads the report. “North Carolina on average is low among states for electricity costs, ranked 20th nationally (lower being better) in the most recent report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Within this lower-cost state, Washington’s residential rates are higher than average, but remain close to the state-wide mean. Staff notes that among the 32 members of the North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency (NCEMPA), they are the 12th least expensive.”

While WEU got a good mark for its rates, it did receive a recommendation concerning its rates.

“Currently no written rate policy is in place to guide rate making. The absence of a rate policy is not unusual within public power; however, in the anticipated economic and power supply climate, this will become increasingly important,” reads the report.

The report encourages WEU to develop a more-formalized rate policy that outlines what factors will trigger a rate increase or decrease.

“This has the effect of minimizing political considerations that may conflict with the ability of the utility to operate objectively, in the best interests of the utility and its stakeholders,” reads the report.

The report recommends WEU conduct a rate study every three to five years. It also strongly encourages WEU to publicize its rates broadly, no matter how they compare to other utilities’ rates.

In the area of strategic planning, the lowest-rated operational area discussed in the report, Hometown Connections recommends WEU “push its strategic thinking ahead further and develop a strategic plan that addresses more far-reaching goals for how the utility can operate successfully while providing benefit to the city government, to its customers and to the community as a whole.”

The report encourages city and WEU officials to review APPA’s “Public Power in the 21st Century” report as a road map to use in establishing longer-term strategies and goals.

“In summary, though, you guys have a very good utility. You’ve got good personnel. There’s areas of weaknesses everywhere. There’s areas that always can be improved on, but the core areas of the utility are really performing well,” said Blodgett during his presentation.

For additional coverage of the presentation to the council, see a future edition of the Washington Daily News.