Welcome to our monthly e-newsletter - "Customer Matters." Here you'll find useful information about Wake Forest Power programs, services, activities, projects, special events and more!
Year-round tree trimming efforts reduce power outages & protect the public

Wake Forest Power (WFP) works year-round to minimize storm impacts and safeguard the public through a variety of preventive maintenance initiatives, including the trimming of trees around Wake Forest’s 140 miles of overhead electric distribution lines.

Although downed trees and limbs are the leading cause of power outages during storms, they also endanger the lives of utility workers and the public.

Thanks to these efforts, WFP has been named a Tree Line USA utility by the National Arbor Day Foundation every year since 2015. The award acknowledges WFP's national leadership in caring for the health of trees while removing branches and limbs that grow too to close to its power lines.

For more information on Wake Forest Power's year-round tree trimming efforts, email Tree Trimming Supervisor Jimmie Kearney. 
 
Wake Forest Power is converting the streetlight fixtures throughout its service territory from high-pressure sodium (HPS) lights to LED. Designed to meet sustainability, safety and security needs, the LED conversion of fixtures will occur over the next three fiscal years at a cost of approximately $125K per year.
 
The replacement effort will concentrate on public roadways first, before proceeding into residential subdivisions and local parking lots. Replacements are currently in progress in the northeast area of town.
 
Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are up to 80% more efficient than other lighting sources and use far less energy, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
 
Whereas the existing HPS fixtures use standard High-Pressure Sodium Vapor (HPSV) lamps with a warmer color temperature (yellow light), the new LED fixtures will have a cooler color temperature (moonlight color), which will enhance visibility and provide better color rendering. The LED fixtures will also provide better efficiency, reliability, and maintainability.

You can "Beat the Peak" with residential load management.

Load management is a means of controlling the "load" or amount of electricity being used at any one time. When periods of peak demand occur, load management is used to reduce the demand and lower the cost.

How it Works
Customers that participate in any of our load management programs allow the Town of Wake Forest to manage the load via a load management switch installed on their electric water heater, electric heat strips and/or central air conditioner. 

The Town provides the switches at no cost to the customer, but the customer is responsible for having the switches installed by a certified electrician.
Then, during periods of heavy demand for power, the Town sends radio signals to the load management switch to cycle off the controlled units - thereby reducing the demand. The more switches the Town has in place, the greater the impact of the load management program.

When Does the Town Load Manage?
Wake Forest averages approximately 10 days per month load managing. Typically, peak times occur on hot summer afternoons between 2-6 p.m. and cold winter mornings between 7-8 a.m. Customers participating in any of the load management programs usually do not notice when their load management switch is activated.
Follow us on Facebook, Nextdoor, Twitter & Instagram
 
Wake Forest Power (WFP) utilizes Twitter and Instagram, in addition to Facebook and Nextdoor, to bolster its outreach efforts and connect and engage with customers via social media.
 
WFP’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram names are the same: @WakeForestPower.
 
WFP customers are urged to follow WFP on one or more of these platforms to stay informed about customer programs and services, community initiatives, special events and more. 

Wake Forest Power offers a payment option that allows residential customers to pay for electricity in advance. Known as Wake Forest Pre-Pay Power, the initiative utilizes advanced metering technology that also enables customers to more closely monitor their energy usage. 
 
Under the Pre-Pay Power program, residential customers have the flexibility and control to pay for electricity when they want, in the amount they want. By paying for electricity before they use it, pre-pay customers never pay a late fee and are never charged disconnect and reconnect fees if their account runs out of credit.
 
Customers can also more closely monitor how much energy they use. Instead of appearing on a traditional paper bill that is generated once a month, electricity usage is calculated daily and the cost is deducted each day from the pre-paid account. As a result, customers can observe in real time what happens when they adjust the thermostat a few degrees or turn off an extra light.

Wake Forest Power (WFP) offers residential customers a simple, yet effective way they can help neighbors struggling to pay electric bills due to COVID-19 or other financial hardships.
 
Helping Others by Providing Electricity or H.O.P.E. is an initiative offered by the Town of Wake Forest designed to help financially disadvantaged electric customers pay their utility bills. The program is funded by the generous donations of WFP customers and administered through a partnership between the Town and ChurchNet, a local non-profit organization assisting area people in need.
 
WFP now offers three ways for customers to contribute to H.O.P.E. online:
 
  1. Round up your bill to the next dollar. For example, a bill of $73.46 would become $74.00. Individually, this is pretty small change; on average, participants will contribute around six dollars annually to the program.
  2. Make a recurring contribution with your monthly utility payment. For your convenience, the Town of Wake Forest is happy to set up a recurring donation of as little as $1/month or whatever dollar amount you choose.
  3. Make a one-time contribution via PayPal.
 
Again, each donation option is available online.
 
During this time of COVID-19, we understand that, like millions of others in the nation, you may be having trouble making housing and utility payments. We hope we can help you with our latest program.
 
The House Wake! COVID-19 Financial Assistance Program focuses specifically on eviction prevention and utility assistance. This program provides financial assistance to tenants, landlords and utility companies to cover rent and utility shortfalls resulting from a financial hardship directly or indirectly due to COVID-19. Qualifying households must have income that does not exceed 80% area median income with priority given to households with incomes below 50% AMI. 

If you are interested in applying for the House Wake! COVID-19 Financial Assistance Program, click here to access the application.

Wake Forest Power (WFP) customers now have faster, easier and more convenient ways to pay their electric bills thanks to a new automated phone system. To make a payment, call 833-415-0541, then follow the prompts to provide your electric account number and credit/debit card number. Accounts will then be updated to show the payment information and the new balance.

If our phone payment options doesn't appeal to you, then take a moment to review our full array of Utility Bill Payment Options.

Fortunately for Wake Forest Power customers, power outages seldom occur. Yet when they do, customers need only to call 919-761-7899 and follow the prompts to quickly notify WFP that their electricity is out.

When you call the outage reporting number, WFP's Outage Management System (OMS) attempts to identify the telephone number from which you are calling and match that number to your account. As long as WFP has the number in its system, the OMS will recognize the customer. If WFP does not have the number, or if the number on file is wrong, information pertaining to your account will not be found.
 
WFP strongly encourages customers to make sure they have provided accurate contact information. More specifically, customers are urged to register up to two phone numbers associated with their account.
 
WFP customers can update their outage phone numbers by calling the automated phone system anytime at 919-761-7899 and following the automated selection or by calling the customer service department at 919-435-9478 during normal office hours (Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.).
Use "SeeClickFix" to report street light outages & other non-emergency issues

The Town of Wake Forest offers SeeClickFix as a simple, yet effective way for residents to report street light outages and other quality of life, non-emergency issues.
 
Wake Forest’s SeeClickFix web page is available at wakeforestnc.gov/report-problem, while the mobile platform is offered as a function on the Town app.
 
By utilizing the online or mobile reporting platform, residents can report non-emergency issues through a variety of service request categories. When submitting such issues, residents can provide locational, descriptive and photographic information as they see the issue in real time. Once the resident submits an issue, the reporter, the Town, and anyone “watching” the area receives an alert. The Town then acknowledges the service request, routes it to the proper department, and updates the request – along with residents following the issue - once it’s been resolved.

The Wake Forest Town Hall is open Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

Wake Forest Power customers can access the Town’s full array of payment options, including online bill pay, Pre-Pay Power, Automatic Bank Draft and Equal Payment Plan, along with Energy Savings Tools, Utilities Contact Information, SeeClickFix and more, on the Town website through the Customer Service Central (CSC) portal. 
 
Before digging in Wake Forest, please contact the NC One Call Center (NCOCC) at 811 (or 800-632-4949).

By calling this number, the NCOCC will dispatch any utilities that have lines in your area. 

The Customer’s Guide to Wake Forest Power is an excellent resource for our nearly 7,000 residential and commercial customers.
 
This full-color, 24-page handbook provides useful information about all things related to Wake Forest Power, including how to establish electric service, ways to protect your power, the utility’s various payment programs, energy savings initiatives, plus much more.

A division of the Town of Wake Forest, Wake Forest Power is a public power utility comprised of 29 employees who strive to provide uninterrupted electric service to nearly 7,000 residential and commercial customers.

Altogether, our crews operate and maintain more than 40 miles of overhead primary lines and 110 miles of underground primary lines. They regularly refurbish or rebuild electric lines that show signs of wear and upgrade facilities where electric load has grown. Thanks to these efforts, our customers enjoy dependable electric service 99.9% of the time. On those rare occasions when power is interrupted, the problem is often traced to equipment issues that were undetectable prior to the outage or to unpredictable wildlife.
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If you have questions or comments about the Town of Wake Forest website or E-News, please contact Bill Crabtree by email or call 919-435-9421.