Longmont Power & Communications (LPC) staff told council on Sept. 16 that the electric utility faces a funding gap in 2026 unless the council approves a rate adjustment. LPC representative Daryl said the utility would be about $8 million short in 2026 "if we don't have the rate increase." He described a proposed budget that increases maintenance staffing, continues investments in distributed energy resources (community solar and batteries), and advances reliability and wildfire-mitigation projects.

Daryl said LPC serves about 49,000 electric meters; he said roughly 320 meters are "opt-out" accounts and eight remain to be upgraded. He also said the utility operates six substations and expects to expand system capacity and improve redundancy so adjacent substations can share load during maintenance or outages. LPC staff proposed changing the utility’s minimum fund-balance policy from 60 days of operating budget to 90 days (excluding purchase power), to provide greater rate stabilization.

Why this matters: LPC's rates and fund policy materially affect household electric bills and the utility's ability to fund maintenance and capital work. LPC's balancing of reliability, affordability and sustainability underpinned the presentation; staff asked council to consider a rate adjustment to avoid an operating shortfall.

What to watch for next: LPC said it will return with a formal rate ordinance for council consideration; approval would change the 2026 appropriations and allow staff to implement the planned maintenance expansion and capital projects.