Crawfordsville City Council approved an ordinance Monday adopting a new schedule of rates and charges for Crawfordsville Electric Light & Power, with the first increase set to take effect Jan. 1, 2027.
The approved plan will increase electric rates by about 3.5% annually over the next four years, resulting in an overall increase of about 13% by 2030.
For the average residential customer, the first increase will add about $4 to the monthly bill. The average residential bill is expected to increase from about $112.96 in 2026 to $116.92 in 2027.
CELP General Manager Allison Huenemann said the utility is balancing the need for additional revenue with its goal of maintaining reliable service, investing in infrastructure and supporting the community.
“To go through this, we try to keep a couple of things in mind, try to be able to provide the same reliable service that we’ve always provided for the community, still invest in our community, which means through our infrastructure or different projects throughout the community, but also giving back to the community as well,” Huenemann said.
CELP’s reliability was 99.996% in 2025, with an average outage time of 18 minutes and fewer than one interruption per customer.
“That’s a pretty significant rating,” Huenemann said. “If we experience large outages, not a lot of people are experiencing those or it’s not for a long period of time. And we pride ourselves on that reliability.”
The utility is planning several infrastructure investments, including a new substation intended to improve reliability for commercial customers and reduce residential demand on the Kentucky Street substation.
Despite the rate increase, CELP’s residential rates will remain comparatively low. After the first phase, rates are projected to be 15% lower than Duke Energy, 22% lower than Parke County and 24% lower than Tipmont, based on those utilities’ current rates.
The rate and cost-of-service study conducted by NewGen Strategies and Solutions found CELP needs additional revenue to cover rising operating costs, capital improvements, debt service and reserves.
CELP chose to spread the increases over four years rather than implement the full increase at once, reducing the average annual impact to about 3.5%.
The increases will be implemented annually through 2030, with each phase taking effect Jan. 1.
