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Utility consultants recommend commercial rate tweaks; residential rates to remain unchanged
Summary
Telstra Electric presented a rate study recommending no change to residential rates while modestly increasing commercial and industrial demand charges and fixed customer charges; presenters estimated the changes would generate about $500,000 annually and that new rates would be implemented for January usage following a public notice and hearing process.
Representatives from Telstra Electric presented the utility’s 2026 rate study to the Tell City Common Council, describing it as an inflationary update focused on commercial and industrial classes while preserving existing residential charges.
Otto “Buzz” Kron, the consultant, said, “There’s no proposed changes for the residential ratepayers.” He explained the study used 2025 as the test year, normalized the energy cost adjustment and projected the proposed adjustments would generate roughly $500,000 in additional annual revenue (raising normalized operating revenue from about $20.0 million to $20.6 million). The study recommended increasing demand charges for industrial customers and making modest changes to customer charges for commercial classes while keeping the residential price-per-kilowatt-hour essentially unchanged.
Kron and board members emphasized the importance of synchronizing the energy-cost-adjustment (ECA) tracker with wholesale purchase-power rates and said they would present the formal ordinance and a public-notice schedule before any final action; the consultant said the board was "shooting for January 27" as an implementation target for the new rates (the transcript did not specify the calendar year for that date). Council members requested further information for stakeholders and were told the board would publish the required public hearing notice and return with an ordinance for future readings.
The council took no formal action at the presentation; the board will publish the required hearing notice and bring a rate ordinance back for deliberation and adoption at a future meeting.
