Jonesboro, AR – Jonesboro Right Now – The City Water and Light (CWL) of Jonesboro board on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution to increase electric rates, as well as a resolution to secure bond financing to fund building a new gas plant.
The electric rate increases will be enacted in two phases, with the first phase beginning Jan. 1, 2027, and the second beginning Jan. 1. 2028. A third rate adjustment, which would go into effect Jan. 1, 2029, will be considered by the board separately after financial review in 2028.
The approximate rate increases for each customer class are listed below:
| Customer Class: | Phase 1 (2027): | Phase 2 (2028): |
| Residential Service | 5.3% | 5.5% |
| Commercial Service | 5.9% | 5.5% |
| Industrial Service | 3.5% | 4.4% |
| Security Light Service | 5.8% | 5.8% |
“We are starting from a very good position. We haven’t had a base rate adjustment since 1984, and our electric rates are about 2/3 of averages across the country, and we’re among the lowest in the state and the region,” said CWL manager Jake Rice during the meeting. “We’re in a very good position to adjust rates and hopefully avoid significant impacts to our customers.”
According to a press release from CWL, individual bill impacts will vary based on customers’ kilowatt-hour (kWh) use. For example, a residential customer using 1,250 kWh per month would see a bill increase of about $5.56 per month in 2027, and an additional $3.63 in 2028. This would bring this customer’s electric portion of their bill to $111.47 by 2028.
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The rate increases are in part to help fund the construction of a new energy plant, of which CWL will have about 15.4% ownership. CWL, along with Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation and others, will be partnering to the new Independence Combined Cycle Natural Gas Plant (CCGP) at what is currently the Independence Coal Plant near Newark.
The CCGP plant will be a natural gas plant that uses exhaust heat to generate additional power with no extra fuel or emissions. CWL has previously said this new plant will generate power more cheaply than coal plants and produce fewer emissions.
The plant will cost $2.6 billion in total, according to a report from Construction Review.
CWL’s cost share of the project will be $350 million to be paid over five years. About $100 million will be paid for through reserves, while the remaining $250 million will be financed through bonds. CWL officials said these bonds would produce additional revenue needed to fund the plant, as well as maintain financial metrics related to the utility district’s bond rating.
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The board on Tuesday unanimously approved issuing bonds up to $100 million. It approved $60 million worth of bonds in 2025, and additional bond issuances of $65 million and $30 million are expected in 2028 and 2029, respectively.
The CCGP construction follows a 2021 legal settlement with the Sierra Club and the National Parks Association, which was approved by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency, to cease coal use at the Independence Plant.
The lawsuit concerning the settlement was filed in 2018 after environmental groups accused Entergy Arkansas of violating the Clean Air Act, according to reporting from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Per the settlement, the existing coal plant can continue its operations through 2030 without installing emissions controls. CWL has previously said installing these controls would cost nearly $200 million, and the plant would need to run for another 30 years to recoup costs.
The CCGP is expected to enter service on Jan. 1, 2031, right after the Independence Coal Plant ceases operation.
Prior to the board approving the rate adjustments, energy marketing administrator Slade Mitchell told board members that CWL had already mailed out information in the previous weeks to inform customers. He noted that CWL officials had met in-person with large industrial partners and various civic groups to provide more information about the increases.
With the board’s approval, another mailer, he said, will be sent out Sept. 8 to provide details on the board’s decision and the rate increases. He added that on Aug. 26, a microsite explaining the increases will launch.
It will contain information on why base electric rates are increasing, frequently asked questions, and allow customers to see what their individual rate increases will be. It will be accessible through CWL’s main website.
Social media updates announcing the changes will also be posted, he said.
“Forecasts are showing that when you look at what it will cost us to serve our customers off the market for capacity and energy, we believe [the CCGP] will, over its life, save our customers hundreds of millions of dollars,” Rice said. “Our right to reuse the generator interconnection, that independence has placed our customers in a great position to get this plan built in a timely manner, and we believe well below the going market value for these types of plants.”
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