photo by Appalachian Exposures
Water and Sewer
Public water and sewer service is provided in Mitchell County by the Town of Spruce Pine and the Town of Bakersville. The Town of Spruce Pine’s water system has a permitted treatment and storage capacity of 1.6 million gallons, and a 2022 average use of 1.20 million gallons per (MGD). Spruce Pine’s sewer system has a permitted capacity of 2.0 MGD, and had a 2022 average use of 0.60 MGD. Spruce Pine’s water and sewer system coverage is within its Town limits and east along US 19E and south along NC 226 and north along NC 226 to Ledger.
The Town of Bakersville’s water system has a storage capacity of 0.266 million gallons, and a 2014 average use of 0.05 MGD. Bakersville’s sewer system has a permitted capacity of 0.2 MGD, and had a 2014 average use of 0.076 MGD. Bakersville’s water and sewer system coverage is generally within its Town limits.
Electricity
Electric service providers in Mitchell County include Duke Energy and French Broad Electric Cooperative. Generally, Duke Energy serves the central portion of the County and French Broad Electric Cooperative serves the northern and southern portions of the County. Three-phase electric service is available throughout the County.
French Broad Electric Membership Corporation
FBEMC Contact Information Burnsville Office
630 West Main Street
PO Box 307 Burnsville, NC 28714
Phone: (828) 682 6121
Fax: (828) 682 7959
Serves the town of Bakersville and the northern section of Mitchell County with electric power.
Small Commercial Customer
Basic Facilities Charge
Single Phase – $20.00 per month
Three Phase – $30.00 per month
Energy Charge
Single Phase – $20.00 per month
Three Phase – $30.00 per month
Larger Power Customer
Basic Facilities Charge
$30.00 per month
Demand Charge
50 KW – 1000 KW 9.35 cents per KW
Energy Charge
50 KW – 1000 KW 5.41 cents per KW
Duke Energy Progress
P.O. Box 1771 Raleigh, N.C. 27602
(919) 508 5400
Serves the Town of Spruce Pine, Southern Section of Mitchell County, Penland, and Cane Creek Community.
Medium General Service
Customer Charge
Single Phase – $14.00 per month
Billing Demand
$5.49 per KW
KWH Energy Charge
12.923 cents per KWH
Large General Service (1,000+KW Demand)
Basic Customer Charge
$500.00
KW Demand Charge (For the first 125kWh kW)
$13.2421 per kWh for first 3,000 KW of Billing Demand
$7.8214 per kWh for over 3,000 KW of Billing Demand
Natural Gas
Natural gas service is provided in Mitchell County by Piedmont Natural Gas. Piedmont serves the Towns of Spruce Pine and Bakersville, and has service along US 19E, NC 226 from Spruce Pine north to Bakersville, and NC 226 from Spruce Pine south to Grassy Creek. Service is market-driven (i.e., Piedmont provides service to individual residences and businesses on case-by-case basis).
Piedmont Natural Gas
4720 Piedmont Row Drive Charlotte, North Carolina 28210 Customer Service Telephone: 1 800 752 7504 Provides natural gas to Mitchell County for residential, commercial, and industrial customers.
Photo by Appalachian Exposures
Telecommunications
Telecommunications service is supplied in Mitchell County by 10 private internet service providers. Technologies include satellite, DSL, wireless, cable modem, and fiber optic. In 2010, Country Cablevision received $25.3 million in federal funding to complete a high-speed fiber optic broadband project. The project resulted in fiber being made available to 97% of homes and businesses in Mitchell and Yancey Counties. The project provides internet speeds up to 100 Mbps (megabits per second) to homes, and up to 1 Gig (gigabyte) for businesses.