Lewes BPW approves electric rate hike
The Lewes Board of Public Works unanimously approved a 10.14% increase in electric rates at its April 24 meeting.
Kim Bellere, BPW finance manager, said the average ratepayer will see an $11 increase in monthly bills starting in June.
She said average commercial customers will pay about $28 more per month. Industrial customers will pay $700 more per month on average.
“We reevaluate our rates every year. Our rates had been low, hence why a lot of deferred maintenance happened over prior years,” said Tom Panetta, BPW president.
Bellere said the actual amount of the increase to BPW will be $540,000 through December.
Panetta said the increase is needed because of a shortfall in capacity, which was caused, in part, by the closure of the Indian River power plant in 2022.
Bill Shull has been covering Lewes for the Cape Gazette since 2023. He comes to the world of print journalism after 40 years in TV news. Bill has worked in his hometown of Philadelphia, as well as Atlanta and Washington, D.C. He came to Lewes in 2014 to help launch WRDE-TV. Bill served as WRDE’s news director for more than eight years, working in Lewes and Milton. He is a 1986 graduate of Penn State University. Bill is an avid aviation and wildlife photographer, and a big Penn State football, Eagles, Phillies and PGA Tour golf fan. Bill, his wife Jill and their rescue cat, Lucky, live in Rehoboth Beach.
