Page 18 - Town of Bedford FY 2018-2019 Budget.pdf

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Low Crime w Crime
The Town of Bedford is a safe place to live, work, and play in part due to the state accredited Bedford
Police Department combined with its tight community and small town environment.

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Cost of Living ost of Living
Bedford area has a low Cost of Living Index of 90.

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Utilities – Electric System: The Town of Bedford is one of 16 Virginia municipal utilities that provides its tilities – Electric System: The Town of Bedford is one of 16 Virginia municipal utilities that provides its
citizens and industrial customers with electrical power.
¾ Renewable: Bedford Electric is a leader in providing “green” renewable electricity where 20-25%
of all provided power is generated from both hydroelectric (i.e., Bedford Hydropower) and solar
sources (Bedford Solar). Bedford’s unique power portfolio provides the ideal location for
environmentally conscious businesses providing justification for LEED certification (Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design) points or other positive environmental impact certifications
and product labels useful in product marketing.
¾ Reliable: Bedford Electric operates 5.5 MW of diesel backup generation capacity for industrial
customers located in and around the Bedford Center for Business Park. Coupled with redundant
interconnection locations with American Electric Power and its dedicated staff, Bedford Electric
provides a very high level of reliable power to its power sensitive industrial customers.
¾ Affordable: Bedford Electric can provide special off-peak electric rates that can substantially
reduce power costs for high consumption customers as well as provide options for customer
specific infrastructure requirements.

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Utilities – Water System: The Bedford Regional Water Authority provides industries located within the tilities – Water System: The Bedford Regional Water Authority provides industries located within the
town limits water from the Stony Creek Reservoir located at the base of the Peaks of Otter mountains
blended with water from a newly constructed water treatment facility sourced from Virginia's largest
reservoir, Smith Mountain Lake.
¾ Industry Compatible: The primary water supplied to Bedford is categorized as being “soft”
having relatively low mineral content resulting in maintenance savings related to industrial
water handling equipment such as boilers, and permitting more effective use of cleaning
protocols.
¾ Abundant/Redundant Supply: Bedford’s redundant water supply is capable of providing
businesses up to 15,000,000 gallons/day of water. This coupled with its sub-tropical climate
that provides an average of 42 inches of annual rain fall results in an industrial water supply that
is highly reliable, plentiful, pure and exceedingly drought tolerant.
¾ Palatable: The Stoney Creek Reservoir is fed by numerous granite mountain springs sourced
mostly from National Park Service land resulting in a very palatable and clean water supply
suitable for food/beverage manufacturing purposes.

**Note on Demographic and Economic Statistics
Independent City of Bedford, Virginia (51515) reverted to Town status and was added to Bedford County
(51019) effective July 1, 2013. Town of Bedford demographics and economic statistics are now reported
in the U.S. Census Bureau via Bedford County, Virginia.

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