RP&L plans brighter Richmond future

Richmond Power & Light will begin in earnest brightening Richmond streets and neighborhoods next year, the utility’s 125th anniversary.

The 2027 budget General Manager Tony Foster presented to the RP&L board during a special Nov. 4 meeting includes $500,000 to convert streetlights to LED. The money switches to the streetlights now that RP&L nears completion of installing AMI meters for its customers.

Foster said the conversion will begin with main corridors, and the first year will give the utility an idea how long the project will take — and how expensive it will be. RP&L still also has $100,000 budgeted for streetlight replacements when problems are reported.

RP&L expects its customers to purchase nearly a trillion kilowatt hours of electricity in 2027. The 920,363,662 kilowatt hours are about a million more than 2026’s projected demand. 

Foster said the economy and the weather make predicting electric demand difficult. During 2025, 75.2% of RP&L’s sales were to commercial and industrial customers. RP&L recently experienced increased demand based on hot weather. Sales in July, August and September outpaced previous years.

Based on the sales projection and newly increased rates, RP&L predicts total income of $101,906,467 against expenses of $98,785,871, which include a 3% raise for employees. It’s expected to create a net income of approximately $3 million. Foster said the utility will closely monitor revenue to ensure it’s meeting expectations with the new rates.

RP&L is budgeting $1,855,800 in capital expenditures. Those include new vehicles, replacing all of the utility’s defibrillators, building and security upgrades, meters, and meter infrastructure equipment.

Including the streetlight project, RP&L plans $7,625,000 in construction projects. Major expenses include the final payment in transformer replacement at the Richmond substation, control room construction at the Johnson Street substation and initial payments for transformers at the East substation. The budget also includes $350,000 to fund an engineering study and land acquisition for a new intertie substation along Gates Road near Blue Buffalo.

The intertie would enable RP&L to pull more electricity off transmission lines passing through the targeted land. That’s in preparation for 2034 when the Whitewater Valley Generating Station is scheduled to close.

The Indiana Municipal Power Agency, which is RP&L’s power wholesaler, owns the land. American Electric Power is purchasing some of the land to build a switching station, and RP&L has the opportunity to purchase land north of the AEP site.

“It’s not very often the moon and stars align like that,” Foster said.

Foster also told board members, who are Richmond Common Council members, that RP&L monitors activity with the Midwest Industrial Park. He said RP&L’s current service can accommodate another user and that there’s room for substation expansion, which could begin if new industrial demand requires it.

Foster also presented the 2027 Parallax Systems budget. Parallax expects revenue of $1.71 million in 2026, a 30.2% increase from 2022. The 2027 budget estimates $2,261,418 in total revenues with $1,816,611 in operating expenses. The expenses include an additional employee that might be hired to install systems, with the position generating enough revenue to pay for itself.

The board is expected to vote on the budget during its Dec. 7 meeting.

2026 review

During the regular board meeting Nov. 2, Foster looked at RP&L’s 2026.

He began with retirements of Lisa Tinsley, Michael Baker, Robert Ullery, Mary Stephens and Pat Reaser, who had 157 combined years of service. Personnel also enjoyed 54 promotions or incremental steps.

More than 18,000 AMI meters were installed, leaving about 3,300 to complete the system’s changeover.

RP&L also has worked on customer projects that include 6Main apartments, Leisure Village, Well Care, housing along Garwood Road, Culver’s on Chester Boulevard, the 7-Eleven on U.S. 35, Berry Plastics and Chester Heights Apartments.