City Attorney
City Attorney
Patrick W. BakerMailing Address
101 City Hall PlazaDurham, NC 27701
Phone
(919)560-4158Fax
(919)560-4660City Attorney Office's Work Saves Future Taxpayer Dollars in Street Lighting Costs
Although Duke Energy recently received approval from the N.C. Utilities Commission for a 4.3 percent rate increase for residential customers, one proposed increase that would have cost city taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars each year was changed, thanks to the hard work of the City of Durham Attorney’s Department.
As part of a request submitted last April, Duke Energy proposed dramatically increasing the rate that municipalities pay for street lighting. The Durham City Attorney’s Office drew attention to these large increases, which would have cost Durham taxpayers over $300,000 in the coming year alone. In addition, a proposed new rate schedule for street lighting would have allowed Duke Energy to include one-time lighting capital costs -- poles, wiring and lights -- with operational charges paid in monthly bills ad infinitum.
According to Sherri Zann Rosenthal, senior assistant city attorney, the settlement approved by the Utilities Commission was a significant "win" not just for Durham, but for all cities across our state served by the company.
"The settlement really kept the rate increase for existing lighting as low as we could achieve. In addition, the commission specifically ordered Duke Energy to fulfill Durham’s request that the new government light rate be revised to pull out the capital costs of underground wiring and poles from the monthly charge for each new street light and allow it to be paid separately," Rosenthal said. "In other words, rather than paying each month for these one-time costs, cities will have the option of a separate, one-time charge."
Rosenthal added that the breakout of the capital costs from the monthly operational costs also will allow cities to pass these costs for lighting in new real estate developments on to developers. "The City’s participation in this docket has made a difference for all the cities in our state, because they will now have the option of having Duke Energy bill initial, one-time capital costs separately," she said.
About the City Attorney's Office
The City Attorney is appointed by the City Council. The City Attorney's office provides legal counsel and representation to the Council, City Manager, departments of City government, and City-appointed boards and commissions. The office provides legal advice at Council meetings, performs legal research and offers advisory opinions, and responds to requests from Council and City staff to draft or review contracts, ordinances and other legal documents. The office represents the City in litigation and provides assistance to the Risk Manager in the retention of outside counsel for the Risk Management program.
The City Attorney's office does not provide legal advice to private citizens. If a private citizen has a legal question, whether on City business or otherwise, the citizen may wish to consider private legal representation.