Cleveland Public Power is seeking City Council approval for a new rate structure and higher electric charges as part of a modernization plan for the 120-year-old city-owned utility. Mayor Justin Bibb’s administration presented the road map at a council committee meeting Thursday, according to Signal Cleveland, after summer outages drew complaints across CPP’s 74,000-customer service area. The plan also envisions connecting Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport to CPP and improving reliability.
Under the proposal, customers would pay more per kilowatt-hour as usage rises and a fixed per-billing-period charge that increases over three years. Officials said additional revenue would let CPP borrow $30 million in 2028 for upgrades; the system has deferred maintenance and needs more than $250 million, city officials have said. Projected added revenue is $6 million next year, $7 million in 2028 and $5 million in 2029, if council agrees.
Chief Operating Officer Martin Keane described a utility currently absorbed by daily crises and said the strategic plan emphasizes customer communication and proactive reliability. Council members asked for specifics. Ward 12’s Tanmay Shah said he wants CPP to grow but needs a timeline and clarity on spending before supporting higher rates. Ward 7’s Austin Davis questioned why CPP would borrow only $30 million rather than seek a larger infrastructure investment; Keane said the utility must keep rates manageable in a competitive market, while Davis countered that outages already have customers demanding improvements.
The plan lists substation rebuilds, more local renewable generation and technology to identify which customers are affected by outages. Airport service got little discussion. Cleveland-Hopkins now sits outside CPP’s territory and buys power from FirstEnergy for about $4.8 million annually.