Cookeville Electric’s First Retail Rate Increase Since 2007 Approved

Cookeville Electric will impose its first retail rate increase since 2007, after TVA discontinued a credit the utility had been receiving.

Last month, TVA passed a 4.5 percent rate increase that will be passed on to all electric customers. Electric Department Director Carl Haney said the utility also ended a pandemic credit Cookeville had received. That amounted to some $800,000 per year back into the Cookeville budget.

“We’ve been using that credit to fund our capital projects such as the Cane Creek Substation, that was a $5 million project,” Haney said. “So we’re using it to fund those capital projects. And now with that going away, I would ask that you approve a retail rate increase of a half a percent.”

Haney said the small rate increase will not cover the total amount of the credit loss, but it will assist.

“We have been able to keep those rates low and still complete those capital projects as we go along,” Haney said.

In other business, the council approved a three-year contract to upgrade to Microsoft 365 for all city offices. The enhanced operating system provides city officials with more security control, including multi-factor authentication. The city will pay just under $100,000 annually for the software.

Council voted to allow new the police departments to purchase seven new vehicles. Supply chain issues continue to the point that the city will be receiving 2025 models.

“We will be lucky to get them,” Chief Randy Evans said during a work session earlier this week.