Progress Energy serves all of New Hanover County and portions of Brunswick, Pender and Columbus counties. The Brunswick Electric Membership Corporation supplies electricity for sections of Brunswick and Columbus counties. The town of Southport provides electricity for its community.
    Portions of Pender County are served by the Four County Electric Membership Corporation.
    Residential, commercial and industrial rates provided by Progress Energy remain competitive. About 99 percent of their electricity generation comes from coal, hydroelectric, oil, gas, propane, and nuclear fission sources.

Service Request: 1-800-452-2777
Online Info: http://www.progress-energy.com

    Natural Gas: Piedmont Natural Gas provides natural gas service to customers adjacent to its gas mains. This service is provided throughout major geographic sections of the city of Wilmington.
    Gas-Liquid Petroleum: Bottle and bulk gas is provided by a substantial number of private companies throughout Southeastern North Carolina. Sources are listed in the classified section of area telephone books.

    The City of Wilmington provides sewage service and treats this sewage in either of two wastewater treatment plants. The Loughlin Plant (Northside) is designed to treat 8 million gallons per day and averages 4.5 million per day. The Maffit Plant (Southside) is designed to treat 12 million gallons per day and averages 7.5 million gallons per day.
    The community of Burgaw in Pender County has both a city water and sewer system. The towns of Topsail Beach and Surf City have water systems.

    The Administration staff provides support to the three divisions within the department, handles numerous other environmental issues, and recommends solid waste planning strategies and policies. Environmental issues include: monitoring of water supplies for compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act, superfund site contract administration, compliance with solid waste regulations including banned materials, conducting environmental audits, and contract administration within the department.
    The Landfill is situated on 400 acres of land in the northwestern portion of the county. The landfill operates five and one-half days per week. Operating cells of approximately five acres each are constructed and closed as needed. To protect groundwater, each cell is constructed with two or three synthetic bottom liners. Monitoring systems are provided to detect leakage between the liners. Cell closure includes the installation of a synthetic liner over the waste to prevent the infiltration of rainwater, reducing leachate generation. On-sight treatment of leachate is provided through a wastewater treatment plant.
    WASTEC is a mass burn waste-to-energy facility consisting of three boilers and two turbine/generators for electrical production and associated power plant equipment. The facility operates 24 hours per day to burn waste and generate steam. The facility was originally constructed in 1984 with expansion for a daily capacity of 450 tons per day completed in 1990. The plant was constructed as a means to decrease the need for landfilling by reducing waste volume 85 percent through incineration. The plant is capable of producing 124,000 pounds of steam per hour and supplies all the steam requirements of its steam customer. In addition, the plant supplies all the internal electrical demands to operate the plant and is capable of producing an additional 7.5 megawatts of electricity for sale to Progress Energy.
    The Recycling staff collects materials generated through the county's drop-off recycling centers and distributes backyard composters made from wooden shipping pallets. Seasonal collections include the Christmas Tree Recycling and the Phone Book Recycling programs.