Camden, South Carolina Signs Long-Term Power Purchase Agreement with NTE Energy

The City of Camden, South Carolina is the latest municipality to approve a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with NTE Energy, company officials announced today.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2021, NTE will supply all of Camden’s power needs for 20 years under the terms of the agreement, which was approved Sept. 25 by the Camden City Council.

“The city is excited, this new venture with NTE will provide our customers with continued reliable service,” said Camden Mayor Alfred Mae Drakeford. “I was thoroughly impressed by their use of alternate energy sources. After learning more about NTE and the state-of-the-art facilities they run across the Carolinas, I look forward to this new relationship.”

Camden will receive power from NTE’s fleet of energy facilities, including the newly opened Kings Mountain Energy Center in Cleveland County, North Carolina; and Reidsville Energy Center – a 500-megawatt natural gas-fired plant currently under construction in Rockingham County, North Carolina. Each facility has the capacity to power 450,000 homes.

Camden City Manager Mel Pearson noted that long-term PPAs such as Camden’s agreement with NTE Energy can produce significant economic benefits for local communities. “Lower electric rates not only help local families by reducing utility costs,” Pearson said, “but also spur economic development, helping to attract new businesses and boost employment.”

Public Utilities Director Tom Couch, meanwhile, said the operating efficiency of the NTE generation portfolio supports a long-term partnership between the city and NTE. Seth Shortlidge, CEO of NTE Energy, agreed.

“NTE’s facilities are some of the cleanest and most efficient sources of energy in the Carolinas,” said Shortlidge, noting that the company’s combined-cycle plants produce up to 50 percent more energy from the same amount of fuel. “Through this long-term agreement, the City of Camden will reap the economic benefits of affordable and reliable electricity for decades to come.”

Camden’s agreement with NTE Energy follows similar PPAs the company has signed with 11 other customers, including other South Carolina municipalities such as McCormick and Greenwood. In addition to its Kings Mountain and Reidsville facilities, NTE Energy has begun preliminary design work on a third combined-cycle natural gas power plant in South Carolina. The company is also developing the Fayetteville Solar Energy Center, a 30-megawatt facility that will provide an affordable source of clean, renewable energy to communities and utilities in the Carolinas through NTE’s Voluntary Solar Program.

About NTE Energy

Based in St. Augustine, Florida, NTE Energy develops and acquires strategically located electric generation and transmission facilities within North America. Through its affiliates, NTE executes all aspects of project development, from initial market and site evaluations and permitting to financing, construction and operation. For more information about NTE Energy, visit www.nteenergy.com.

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