Citizens Energy to deliver staged water increases to Lebanon, reaching 25 MGD by year six

Lebanon Mayor Matt Gentry and Jeff Harrison, president and chief executive officer of Citizens Energy Group, said during episode 200 of the Love in Lebanon podcast that Citizens and the city have executed an agreement to deliver staged increases in potable water supply to Lebanon, culminating in up to 25 million gallons per day (MGD) by year six.

The agreement matters because Lebanon’s current system produces about 4.6 MGD and the city has long signaled that additional water capacity is needed to support planned development in the LEAP districts. Under the arrangement described on the podcast, Citizens will extend mains, increase treatment-plant capacity and add or upgrade booster stations; the city will complete its own construction and connection work so the two systems line up at the delivery point.

Jeff Harrison said the planned delivery schedule is phased: “it’s about a 6 year overall, timeframe. First 2 years … about 2, MGD. … after that 3rd year, we’ll look to increase that to up to about 10 MGD. And then after year 6, that will … include the full 25 MGD, to the city of Lebanon.” He added that Citizens will deploy main-extension projects and increase capacity at two large treatment plants to meet the commitment. The podcast also noted Citizens’ regional reservoir and transfer capacity as part of its long-term water supply planning.

Mayor Matt Gentry described the city’s parallel work to receive that water, including issuing requests for proposals (RFPs) for on-city construction and making system improvements such as new looped mains and trunk lines so the incoming supply reaches end users. Mayor Gentry said the city and its utility board are still working on interim allocations until Citizens’ deliveries begin and that “we know that water’s coming 2027.”

Both officials said the financing structure is intended to avoid raising bills for existing Lebanon residents. Harrison said the Citizens-to-Lebanon program aimed “to make sure that we didn’t burden our our existing customers as well, and that there was no impact to their bill.” Mayor Gentry said the Indiana Finance Authority (IFA) financing and contributions from development in the LEAP districts mean infrastructure costs are primarily carried by those new users rather than current residents.

Podcast participants discussed operational details and community impacts: the city will build loops and redundancy to improve service and isolate end-of-line issues; construction activity such as trenching and pipe-laying is expected in visible areas and along trunk lines; and the Lebanon communications team and Citizens plan to publish progress materials (pictures, videos and timelines) as work proceeds. The podcast noted Citizens already serves retail and wholesale customers elsewhere in Boone County and Central Indiana and that Lebanon will be Citizens’ ninth wholesale customer.

No formal council vote or motion was recorded on the podcast itself; speakers described an executed agreement and ongoing technical, procurement and financing steps. Officials said subsequent city projects, contractor selections and construction scheduling remain subject to RFP outcomes and coordination between city engineers and Citizens’ teams.

Looking ahead, the city and Citizens expect multi-year construction on both sides of the delivery point and ongoing public information efforts. Mayor Gentry called the agreement “monumental for what it means for the future of our community,” and both parties said they plan to keep the public informed as design and construction proceed.