Wilson Energy (City of Wilson, NC) Rate Selection Guide
Wilson Energy, the fourth-largest city-owned electric system in North Carolina, serves 36,751 customers in Wilson and parts of six surrounding counties with power supplied through NCEMPA. AMI smart meters are fully deployed (2017) and hourly usage is viewable through the MyUsage.com and MyWilson portals, but there is no Green Button, EDI, API, or data export — C&I teams negotiate access through the Energy Services Manager.
Wilson Energy (City of Wilson, NC) Rate Schedule Comparison
| Schedule | Type | Rate | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| MGS-4 / FR-MGS-5 CP | Commercial general service | Structure-based; 35-300 kW (small) and 30-500 kW (medium, coincident peak) | Small and medium commercial facilities |
| FR-1/2/3-4 Gen Serv CP | Large general service (coincident peak) | Structure-based; tiers at 500-10,000 kW, 10,000-20,000 kW, >20,000 kW | Large industrial and institutional loads |
| Load Management Riders | Demand response riders | Credits for peak-shaving participation | C&I customers able to curtail or self-generate at peaks |
Market Overview
Wilson Energy is a municipal electric utility not regulated by the NC Utilities Commission, with wholesale power supplied by the North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency (NCEMPA). Customers cannot choose a competitive supplier; rates are set by the city with detailed schedules published for residential, commercial, industrial, and lighting classes.
Need to pull your actual usage data to compare rates? See the Wilson Energy (City of Wilson, NC) Data Access Guide →
Current Rate Schedules
Wilson Energy, the City of Wilson's municipal utility and an NCEMPA (ElectriCities) member, publishes rate schedules by customer class effective July 1, 2024. Commercial and industrial service is tiered by capacity — MGS-4 (35-300 kW), FR-MGS-5 CP (30-500 kW), and three FR General Service CP tiers up to and beyond 20,000 kW — with the larger schedules billed on coincident peak (CP) demand against NCEMPA's wholesale peak. Temporary Power Cost Adjustment riders (PCA 1-22 and 1-23, recovering ~$9.7M of wholesale true-up over 24 months each) currently add about 6.3% to bills; specific commercial dollar rates are published in the city's rate documents — see tariff for current rates. Residential service runs $25.00/month plus $0.1038/kWh.
Effective: July 1, 2024 · Full Tariff Book →
| Schedule | Type | Applicability | Structure | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MGS-4 — General Service Small | commercial | Commercial accounts of roughly 35-300 kW capacity | Customer charge plus demand and energy charges; non-CP demand billing for smaller commercial loads. See published rate schedule for current dollar rates | — |
| FR-MGS-5 CP — General Service Medium (Coincident Peak) | commercial | Commercial accounts of roughly 30-500 kW electing coincident peak billing | Demand billed on the customer's load at the NCEMPA coincident peak hour rather than facility maximum — rewarding curtailment during system peaks; energy charges plus PCA riders apply. See tariff for current rates | —+ CP-based demand billing; see tariff |
| FR-1-4 Gen Serv CP — General Service Large 1 | industrial | Large accounts of 500-10,000 kW; FR-2-4 covers 10,000-20,000 kW and FR-3-4 covers loads above 20,000 kW | Coincident peak demand charges tied to NCEMPA wholesale billing plus energy charges and PCA riders; load management riders (Gen-1/Gen-2 Rider-3, LM-Rider-4) provide credits for generator or load curtailment at peaks. See tariff for current rates | —+ CP demand billing with load management rider credits available |
| PCA Riders 1-22 and 1-23 (Temporary) | commercial | All customer classes | Temporary Power Cost Adjustment riders recovering NCEMPA wholesale true-up costs (elevated 2022 natural gas prices and mild-weather under-collection): Rider 1-22 runs July 2024-June 2026 and Rider 1-23 runs October 2024-September 2026, together adding ~6.3% to bills before sunsetting | — |
Rate Recommendations by Use Case
Mid-size commercial facility (30-500 kW)
Retail centers, schools, and light industrial sites in Wilson choosing between standard MGS-4 and coincident-peak FR-MGS-5 CP billing.
CP schedules bill demand on your load during NCEMPA's single monthly system peak hour, not your facility maximum. Facilities that can curtail or shift load during predicted peak windows (summer late afternoons, winter mornings) often cut demand costs substantially versus facility-peak billing.
- Use the Wilson Energy commercial rate calculator on wilsonnc.org to compare schedules against your load shape
- Subscribe to peak-day notifications and pre-cool or curtail during predicted NCEMPA peak hours
- Pull hourly data from MyUsage.com to see your historical load at system peak times
Large industrial load (500+ kW)
Manufacturers and large facilities on the FR General Service CP tiers, where wholesale coincident peak charges dominate.
NCEMPA member cities pass wholesale CP demand costs through to large customers, and Wilson's load management riders (Gen-1/Gen-2 Rider-3, LM-Rider-4) pay credits for generator operation or curtailment at system peaks — effectively a standing demand response program.
- Enroll backup generators in the Gen Rider programs to earn peak-shaving credits
- Coordinate with Wilson Energy's Energy Services Manager on peak forecasting
- Model the LM-Rider-4 credit against your curtailable load before summer season
Budget-conscious account through the PCA rider period
All C&I accounts absorbing the temporary ~6.3% PCA riders that began in 2024.
Riders 1-22 and 1-23 each run 24 months with defined end dates (mid-to-late 2026), so bills should step down as they expire. Budgeting should separate permanent base rates from the temporary rider component.
- Line-item the PCA riders in budget models with their published sunset dates
- Verify rider removal on bills after each expiration
- Watch the city's annual rate review for new riders following NCEMPA true-ups
Solar or DER host in Wilson territory
Businesses adding rooftop solar or batteries under Wilson Energy's Renewable Rider.
On CP schedules, batteries or solar that reliably reduce load at the NCEMPA system peak deliver value beyond energy offset — they cut the wholesale demand allocation that drives large-customer rates in ElectriCities towns.
- Review Renewable Rider terms before sizing a system — municipal compensation differs from state net metering
- Dispatch batteries against forecast CP windows, not just facility peaks
- Combine DER output data with MyUsage interval data to verify peak-hour performance
Cost Optimization Strategies
Wilson Energy's coincident peak rate design makes one hour a month — the NCEMPA system peak — the dominant cost lever for larger customers, supported by formal load management riders that pay for curtailment. Layered on top are temporary PCA riders with defined sunsets, making rider tracking and peak forecasting the two highest-value disciplines.
Coincident peak avoidance
For: FR-MGS-5 CP and FR Gen Serv CP customers
CP schedules bill demand on load during the NCEMPA monthly system peak hour. Forecasting peak days (hot summer afternoons, cold winter mornings) and curtailing HVAC, process, and charging load during those windows directly cuts the wholesale demand component.
Load management rider enrollment
For: Customers with backup generators or curtailable load
Wilson's Gen-1/Gen-2 Rider-3 and LM-Rider-4 pay credits for running backup generation or shedding load at system peaks — monetizing assets most facilities already own. ElectriCities coordinates peak-shaving programs across member cities.
PCA rider sunset tracking
For: All customers
Riders 1-22 (July 2024-2026) and 1-23 (October 2024-2026) are temporary, together about 6.3% of bills. Tracking their expirations prevents over-budgeting and catches billing errors if riders persist past their end dates.
Interval-data-driven efficiency
For: All commercial accounts
Hourly data from MyUsage.com reveals overnight base load and peak coincidence. Trimming always-on waste (typically 10-20% of commercial kWh) and shifting flexible load away from peak windows compounds energy and demand savings.
Rate schedule optimization
For: Commercial accounts between 30 and 500 kW
With overlapping capacity ranges (MGS-4 at 35-300 kW vs. FR-MGS-5 CP at 30-500 kW), eligible customers should run both schedules against 12 months of interval data using Wilson's commercial rate calculator — the right choice depends on peak coincidence, not just size.
To implement these strategies, you need your 15-minute interval data. Learn how to download Wilson Energy (City of Wilson, NC) interval data →
Frequently Asked Questions
How do C&I customers see interval data from Wilson Energy?▾
Through MyUsage.com (Exceleron) — register, select Wilson Energy, and view daily consumption with hourly granularity, a 30-day history window, and temperature overlay; the MyWilson portal adds 12 months of consumption trends. All 36,751 customers have AMI smart meters (fully deployed 2017), but data is view-only with no CSV or API export.
Can third parties or aggregators pull Wilson Energy data programmatically?▾
No. There is no public API, Green Button, EDI, or aggregator integration. Consultants need a signed customer authorization (power of attorney) and should contact Energy Services Manager Crystal Hill (chill@wilsonnc.org, 252-399-2417) to negotiate a case-by-case data arrangement.
What commercial rate schedules does Wilson Energy offer?▾
Effective July 1, 2024: General Service Small (MGS-4, 35-300 kW), Medium (FR-MGS-5 CP, 30-500 kW), and three Large coincident-peak tiers (FR-1/2/3-4) spanning 500 kW to over 20,000 kW, plus load management riders, lighting (LU-3), a renewable rider, and a municipal schedule (AR-TS-5). Schedules are published at wilsonnc.org.
How can large facilities reduce demand costs at Wilson Energy?▾
Join the Load Management program: the Gen-1/Gen-2 Rider-3 and LM-Rider-4 riders credit customers for curtailing load or running generation during NCEMPA coincident peaks. Pair hourly MyUsage data with peak-event participation — enrollment runs through Energy Services Manager Crystal Hill at 252-399-2417.
What does Nectar's roadmap support level mean for Wilson Energy?▾
Wilson Energy is on Nectar's roadmap — automated ingestion is planned but not yet productized. Because the utility offers no data export or API, Nectar works with customer-shared bill copies and negotiated arrangements through the Energy Services Manager while integration options develop.
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