Two capital purchases for its line department could cost Richmond Power & Light more than $475,000.
During its Nov. 3 meeting, the utility’s board approved spending $301,338 for a 71-foot bucket truck, awarding the bid to Altec Industries of Indianapolis. The bid was opened during the board’s October meeting. Altec bid $307,338 for the bucket truck and offered $6,000 for trade-in of a 209 bucket truck.
General Manager Tony Foster also opened two bids for a directional drill. The utility is offering a 2015 drill and its trailer as a trade-in.
Vermeer Midwest in Fishers bid $280,807.69 for the drill and offered $105,000 for the trade-in, making the purchase price $175,807.69. Ditch Witch Midwest of Brownsburg bid $258,500 for the drill and offered $70,000 for the trade-in, making the purchase price $188,500.
The board approved Foster taking the bids under advisement and returning with a recommendation.
Year in review
Foster provided the board a recap of the utility’s 2025 activities.
The utility hired three employees: Josh Stewart in the line department, Breeann Lipps in the general office and Kyle Culbertson as a substation electrician. Five employees with 175 years total experience retired this year. They are Todd Boicourt, Kimberly Harvey, Steve Glover, Chuck Jewett and Terri Stephens.
Among other highlights, the meter department had installed 4,397 advanced metering infrastructure meters this year through Oct. 16, leaving about 4,000 new meters to install. The meters communicate with the utility, providing more information for customers and remote service opportunities for the utility.
The line department has progressed on projects to update streetlights to LED and to replace worn poles. Foster said the utility appreciates receiving information about streetlight outages. The easiest way to report an outage is online at rp-l.com. Including the pole number helps the utility locate the proper streetlight.
The utility has also been involved in customer projects for a variety of businesses and developments, including Transcendia, Shelton Fireworks, Reith Reilly asphalt plant, Liberation Labs, Chick-fil-A, Wawa, Well Care Community Health Center, Chester Heights Apartments expansion, Test Road Trailhead and the 6Main apartments. Foster said the Wawa project proved challenging because the gas station/convenience store will have two rows of electric vehicle charging stations.
The utility’s efforts resulted in RP&L receiving a Gold Award as a reliable public power provider from the American Public Power Association.
A version of this article appeared in the November 12 2025 print edition of the Western Wayne News.