HomeMy Public PortalAbout11-01-1982 •
PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE
• CITY. OF RICHMOND, INDIANA, SERVING-AS A BOARD
IN CHARGE OF THE OPERATION OF THE RICHMOND POWER
• & LIGHT PLANT, NOVEMBER 1, 1982
1 The Common Council of the City of Richmond, Indiana, serving as a Board in
2 charge of the operation of the Richmond Power & Light Plant, met in regular
• 3 session November 1, 1982 at the hour of 7:00 p.m. in the Municipal Building
4 in. said City. Vice Chairman Hankinson presided with the following members
5 present: Messrs. Elstro, Williams, 'Ms. Henry, Mills, Parker, Carter and
6 Paust. Absent: Welch. The following business was had, to-wit: •
7
8 APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF OCTOBER 18, 1982 •
9
10 ' Councilman Mills moved 'to approve the minutes of the previous meeting as.
11 received, seconded by Councilman Parker and on unanimous voice vote the
12 motion was carried. •
13
14 APPROVAL OF BILLS •
15 .'
16 Councilman Carter moved to approve bills as submitted in the amount of
17 $523,983.94, seconded by Councilwoman. Henry and on unanimous voice vote
18 the motion was carried.
19 -
20 REMARKS BY CHAIRMAN
21
22 Vice Chairman'Hankinson read the following letter from Chairman Bing Welch:
23
24 Business commitments have taken me from the City tonight and I will .not be
25 .able to join you in what I consider to be a ,very important agenda.
26
' 27 The subject of delaying the electric rate increases for Richmond Power and,
28 ' Light customers will be considered later this evening, and I would like to
29 express my appreciation to the management' of Richmond Power and Light for
30 their evaluation and recommendations.. •
III 31 • .
32 The impact on the City of Richmond from. the• economic slowdown has been
33 dramatic in the last six months. This .slowdown has been felt thru the
34 entire City and in each home of the community. Businesses and industry
35 have had to re-evaluate• their competitive positions in relation to costs
36 and profits in times of reduced business as we are now experiencing.
37
38 A part of this cost evaluation has to be electric costs for plants, stores,
39 equipment and manufacturing. Each budget for both the home and business
40 would and will be effected by changes in electric costs. With additional
41 ' costs to be paid by all segments of the, community it was obvious that these
42 additional burdens would not aid the economic recovery in the.near future.
43
44 The added costs of higher electric rates would drain needed dollars from .
45 the.city government, county government, park department, sanitary depart-
46 went, school, hospital and other agencies. This would mean reduced services
47 or added costs to the tax payers, who were already paying higher costs for
48 their own electric usage.
49 •
50 With all this in mind the suggestion of delaying or holding the line on .
51 'electric rates is appropriate. .The aid toward economic recovery and reten-
52 tion of dollars in Richmond to 'be used to affect this recovery could be
53 immediate.
54 '
55 I know each of you have your own thoughts about this subject and will dis-
56 - cuss it in :light 'of the 'benefits for the Richmond community. My vote and
III 57 message on the subject would be, delay the rate increase for now and con-
58 tinue to monitor the local economic situation.
" ..59 . . ..... . .
60 I think the statement, "'Richmond Power and Light is working for a Better
61 Tomorrow", is borne out by the action you take tonight on this request!
RP&L Minutes Cont'd.
November 1, 1982
Page 2
1 REPORT BY GENERAL MANAGER
2 RP&L.Rate Report
3
4 General Manager Irving Huffman stated RP&L started review of their operations
5 a year ago and data was collected to bring a rate increase before this body.
6 During this one (1) year period, the economy has gone down locally and infla-
7 tion has gone from double digit to single digit. Load growth has gone from
8 a two percent (2%) to zero percent (0%) increase. All utilities are exper-
9 fencing this and are looking at raising their rates as their costs are going
10 up and revenues are going down. He noted RP&L has been very frugal in the
11 past and has money in the bank, which has been drawing high interest rates.
12 In the past few weeks RP&L has been.reviewing the economy and know what an
13 impact a rate increase would have on their customers. A delay in the rate
14 increase is recommended; however, a rate increase now would be a smaller
15 percentage and, if postponed, a higher increase will be necessary.
16
17 Mr. Huffman noted all the major utilities in Indiana, except one (1), have
18 applied or are in the process of implementing a new rate increase. RP&L
19 was projecting.a hundred thousand dollar ($100,000) loss in the rate case
20 to be presented to the PSCI; but, with a good belt tightening, this could
21 become a positive figure as projections are difficult. If necessary, RP&L
22 can live on their reserves. He noted the cost to the City alone would be
23 an increase in street lighting of $100,000; highway lighting $15,000; City
24 Building $40,000 for a total of $155,000. The direct benefit to the taxpayer
25 would be that this cost wouldn't have to be paid. He recommended the Ordinance
26 coming before Common Council tonight for a delay in the rate increase be
27 passed.
28
29 ADJOURNMENT
30
31 There being no further business on motion duly made, seconded and passed the
32 meeting was adjourned.
33
34 James Hankinson
35 Vice Chairman
36 .
37 ATTEST: JoEllen Trimble
38 City Clerk