In September 2008, Newark residents were charged an additional 2.4 cents per kilowatt-hour for their August electricity bills as part of a Purchased Power Cost Adjustment, a charge that allowed the city to pass the cost of spikes in the wholesale electricity market onto its customers.
City officials authorized the increase to August bills at the end of August, retroactively raising electric rates without notifying residents. This did not sit well with one Newark resident: Amy Roe. “I felt like it was a tax,” Roe said. “And I’m not okay with that.” She fought against the PPCA, testifying at city council for the first time. Due to her dismay, council agreed not to charge residents retroactively and also changed the name of the PPCA to the Revenue Stabilization Adjustment at her request. ........Roe grew up in the Binns neighborhood, graduated Newark High School in 1991 and went to the University of Delaware, where she received a Ph.D. in energy and environmental policy. She now works as a technical writer and photographer, and also serves on the Sierra Club Delaware Chapter’s Executive Committee and leads Newark Residents Against the Power Plant, a group in opposition to a power plant slated for UD’s STAR Campus, one mile from Roe’s Sunset Road home. Roe spearheaded a campaign to get 1,200 signatures for a petition against the power plant. She said the 248-megawatt generating power plant that will go along with the data center by The Data Centers, LLC is inappropriate for the STAR Campus and the residential area that lies less than a fourth of a mile away. “It’s a red flag,” Roe said. “It will damage the reputation of our town.” The power plant project has brought the topic of transparency to the forefront at many recent council meetings with some residents, including Roe, accusing council, TDC and the university of withholding information and not being truthful about plans for the site. “Council and mayor, they need to watch what’s happening, and that’s one of the reasons why I’m running for mayor,” she said. “City officials don’t pay close enough attention.”
Roe said the city could benefit from more public comment, especially when it comes to ideas for increasing revenue. “Newark has a problem with relying on electricity as the largest source of revenue,” she said, adding that the city struggles with long-term revenue stability. “We keep kicking the can down the road.” .........Although a strong opponent of the power plant, she argued she is not a one-issue candidate and plans to be involved in all the problems that face the city if she is elected as mayor. “That’s my track record,” she said. “I’ve been passionate about a variety of things.”.........“We’re at a crossroads now,” she said. “We have to decide what kind of town we want to be, and what we want to look like in the future.”Editor’s note: This month, the Post is profiling each of the seven candidates for mayor. Check next week’s issue for more profiles and visit newarkpostonline.com/election to read previous articles.
(Newark Post image - 2013 Halloween Parade)
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