Government

City adopts new CEL&P rates

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The March repeal of the Utility Receipts Tax by Indiana lawmakers will save tens of thousands of dollars a year on energy costs for Crawfordsville industries beginning this summer.

The state tax, imposed at a rate of 1.4% since 2006 on tax-funded utility companies like Crawfordsville Electric Light & Power, was built into customer rates. But beginning July 1, the total — some $500,000 annually — will be removed.

Approving the ordinance were members of the Crawfordsville Common Council, who met in special session Monday to adopt the ordinance by a May 1 deadline. Utilities have until May 31 to prove to the state that the amount has been removed from the rates with a 30-day filing requirement.

“Thank you all for taking the time out of your busy lives to come in and help us out,” Customer Service Director John Douglas said Monday before presenting the rates for board review. “It is definitely doing us a big favor, so we appreciate that very much.”

Government-owned utility services throughout Indiana are scrambling to meet the May 1 mark for the 30-day filing deadline. With this in mind, CEL&P consultant NewGen Strategies & Solutions also worked after hours to complete the recalculations.

With a 1.4% reduction in rates, Douglas said Crawfordsville households will save an average of $1.78 per month, or $21.36 a year.

The figure is based on 1,000 kilowatt-hours consumed a month. But when considering the many industrial complexes in the Crawfordsville area, some of which use up to 4 million kilowatt-hours each month, annual savings could be in the tune of nearly $90,000 a year.

“About 60% of our customers are industry,” Douglas said.

The move was put in motion March 29 by Douglas and CEL&P Manager Phil Goode when they proposed the rate change to the Utility Service Board. A week later, the ordinance was reviewed by the Council Committees board, which sent it on to the Common Council for full approval with a favorable recommendation.

The Common Council was not set to meet again until after May 1, prompting the special session Monday. In a move described as uncommon by Mayor Todd Barton, the Common Council suspended the rules and approved all three required readings at once in order to meet the deadline — the last hurdle facing the rate adjustment.

“We typically don’t do that,” Barton said April 4. “Certainly, if it was an increase, it wouldn’t go through all three readings [at once].”

Now that the ordinance has been adopted and the paperwork has been filed, officials simply have to wait until July 1 when they can put the new rates into action.

The Crawfordsville Common Council will next meet at 6 p.m. May 9 at City Hall, 300 E. Pike St.

For more information about Crawfordsville utilities, visit www.celp.com or
www.crawfordsville.net.


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