Starkville”s mayor and electric department head spent the first half of the week in Washington trying to keep power rates down.
Mayor Parker Wiseman and SED General Manager Terry Kemp attended the American Public Power Association conference to network and lobby the Mississippi delegation to have repairs to the Wolf Creek Dam in Russell County, Ky., classified as “rebuilding.”
“Rebuilding qualifies it for federal aid. Hence, it makes the cost to the utility providers cheaper,” Wiseman texted Friday.
Kemp said the Wolf Creek Dam has an effect on all of the Tennessee Valley Authority”s service area.
“The valley is very integrated. It has an impact on our rates. We don”t want anything done that would produce a negative impact,” he said. “We were asking for support for repair rather than putting (the cost) back on the rate payers themselves.”
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers initiated repairs to the Wolf Creek Dam in 2006 to reinforce it after water seeped into and eroded the limestone bed beneath the dam. Repairs are expected to wrap up in 2012.
Kemp said he and Wiseman were also in D.C. to make connections and share tips for energy efficiency with municipal representatives from around TVA”s coverage area.
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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