Home > So, what do you think? > Archives > 2008 > July > 15
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Hey, ElectriCities … give us a break!
Whatever you might think of the six-digit salaries commanded by almost 30 top executives at ElectriCities or the skyrocketing interest rates on some of the debt held by the management company, there’s no denying that things are getting tough for local businesses.
As Telegram staff writer John Henderson reported Sunday, the proposed 14 percent electric rate increase is likely to have a big impact on everyone - from giant power users such as Nash General Hospital to mom and pop operations such as Koretizing One Hour Cleaners. That doesn’t even begin to address the folks like you and me, who are likely to see our utility bills jump if Rocky Mount passes along the increase.
ElectriCities board members told Henderson that the salaries paid to top executives (CEO Jesse Tilton makes almost a half-million a year) have to be high to attract the best and brightest to those positions. Board Chairman Sam Noble also defended ElectriCities’ borrowing practices, saying the board signed off on the deal that converted fixed-rate bonds to those with variable rates, too.
That’s all well and good, but neither factor makes the rate increase sit any better with the rest of us. The top executives of ElectriCities would buy themselves a world of positive press if they would announce plans to take a pay cut this year. At the very least, why not stagger the increase? A 7 percent hike now and the rest in January would still hurt, but at least it would spread out the pain a little bit.
There’s no point in kidding ourselves. Energy costs are going up all over the country. Even so, the taste of that increase is especially bitter to Rocky Mount and the 31 other cities in the N.C. Eastern Municipal Power Agency, which ElectriCities is paid to manage.
How about sweetening the deal a little?
