Several city staff and council from the city of Rocky Mount are attending a power utility conference at a four-star luxury resort in Virginia as residents face rising utility bills from the city's ongoing financial crisis.
Bradley Walters, Rocky Mount's current director of energy resources, acknowledged the optics of the situation when asked by WRAL News on the conference's opening day.
Other WRAL Top Stories
"I'm not thrilled about the location myself," Walters said.
At least several workers with energy resources and two city council members have traveled to Hot Springs, Virginia, for the 2026 ElectriCities conference, a convention for independent power utility companies for cities within North Carolina. It's being held at the Omni Homestead Resort, a four-star hotel in Virginia’s Allegheny Mountains.
Walters, who stepped into the role as director of energy resources with the city in September 2025, shared that city staff normally attend the conference every year. This year's conference, however, comes in the midst of mounting criticism by Rocky Mount residents of the city's utility billing, which has risen as a result of the city's long-noted financial distress.
For several months, travel and training were limited as a result of financial restrictions put in place to stabilize the city's finances. However, Walters said this year's conference fell outside of that restriction window and noted budgeting for it had been accounted for in the new fiscal year.
Rocky Mount city council member Lige Daughtridge shared with WRAL he "raised concerns" about the budgeted travel set aside for city council and the mayor, though they were "ignored."
WRAL confirmed Rocky Mount's mayor was not in attendance at the Electricities conference.
"Even if it’s budgeted, do you believe the citizens of Rocky Mount believe this is a good use of time and resources financially?" asked WRAL.
"It’s a good question, when our financial issues are as public as they are," Walters said. "It’s a logical question to say, 'Are we doing everything we can to save funds? A dollar here? And be more efficient?’ We’re doing that. We cut back a lot; we're bare-bones on many things, [we] deferred capital projects. With that said, we also have to continue to keep an eye on the future. The challenges facing public power, not just in Rocky Mount but here in North Carolina, are immense.”
Rocky Mount, which has dealt with billing issues for months, recently started charging customers late fees and shutting off power for some customers who had unpaid bills. The conference comes just days after three Rocky Mount residents died in a home after the home's electricity had been shut off. The family said the city shut off their power despite attempts to partially pay a percentage of what the family owed on their electricity debt.
A city spokesperson did not specify which city council members were in attendance as part of the delegation from Rocky Mount.
"Managing a municipal electric utility requires City officials and utility professionals to remain informed on changing regulatory requirements, electric system reliability, technology, cybersecurity, governance, customer service and industry best practices," said a Rocky Mount spokesperson.
Given the timing and location of the conference, Walters admitted "yes" to whether he's expecting criticism from Rocky Mount residents. However, he added that new information from conference could further progress regarding utility billing and metering.
"We should face questions for that," he said. "[We're] not shying away from these questions; it’s logical. My response would be that we still have a utility to operate. We still need to make sure we’re putting our utility operations in the best position moving forward.”