Westminster to return to PMPA discussions

Westminster elected leaders are expected to resume talks next week on whether to eventually sever contract relations with their wholesale electric power provider, the PMPA. Piedmont Municipal Power Agency is a consortium of 10 Upstate municipalities who have interest in part of a Duke Energy nuclear reactor. But, in recent years, dissatisfaction has grown in Westminster and that the city might be able to land a better deal elsewhere in the electricity market. A meeting planned Tuesday night next week is likely to be a continuation of one that recessed this week after one councilman requested additional information. Westminster late last month decided to serve PMPA with notice that it will withdraw from a supplement power arrangement with the consortium by 2028. Looming beyond that is the main contract which expires in 2035. That’s the contract that PMPA wants Westminster to extend. For his part, Mayor Brian Ramey says no. “I do not agree with an extension of the contract past 2035, “ Ramey said today.