Richmond Power & Light anticipates net income of nearly a million dollars in 2024.
The utility’s board of directors, which is composed of Richmond Common Council members, approved the 2024 budget Dec. 4 that’s a 2.17% increase from 2023. The board also set the 2024 salaries for RP&L employees.
The 2024 income and operating expenses are both predicted at more than $100 million, leaving a projected net income of $971,084.
The budget includes money to fund planning for a Midwest Industrial Park project and replacement of large transformers. Tony Foster, RP&L’s general manager, said industrial park expansion with three new large tenants and additional land purchases requires study. The utility also must plan to replace 12 to 15 large transformers during the next five to 15 years, Foster said. Each transformer costs about $2 million, and transformers take nearly three years to receive once they’re ordered.
RP&L also has more than $9 million in accounts for upcoming expenses for the required coal combustion residual environmental project, future decommissioning of the local generating station and substation modifications.
Board members accepted an energy cost adjustment of 0.18 cents per kilowatt-hour for the first quarter of 2024. The quarterly adjustments respond to variations in what RP&L pays for energy.
A bid was awarded to Vermeer for $68,778 to purchase a drum-style woodchipper for the line department. The 2023 budget includes $75,000 for a woodchipper.
Three bids were received for the 2024-26 contract to clear lines of trees and brush. They were taken under advisement.
Board members also gave permission for Parallax to seek bids for a bucket truck included in its 2024 budget.
A version of this article appeared in the December 13 2023 print edition of the Western Wayne News.