MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — An electric company in Montgomery County could add new substations to your area — and you'll see an increase on your electric bill.

CDE Lightband said their customer base has grown and their revenue is no longer keeping up with expenses.  

CDE Lightband has seen tremendous growth in Clarksville. Within the past year, they've grown to 50,000 customers. To keep up with the growth, the company is raising electricity rates by 1% to pay for growth-related upgrades.

Brian Taylor, general manager for CDE Lightband, said that anytime they large capital projects, they finance them through bonds. By issuing the new bonds, it will increase their debt payment to about $1.8 million annually. The rate increase will generate enough revenue just to cover the new debt payment. 

CDE Lightband is currently building two substations which are expected to go online in May. One will be located on Tiny Town Road and the other along Exit 4. Because of how fast they're growing, they plan on building two additional substations, one on the north side of town on Campbell Blvd, and the other will be located along Exit 4.

"What we're doing is we're just trying to build for the future and this is going to help with our system reliability and resiliency and help to make sure that we can continue to grow," Taylor said.

Taylor anticipates the new substation to sustain the area for at least five years. Every year, CDE Lightband looks five to ten years out on growth rate and where they need to be. It typically takes them three to four years to build a substation, so they're planning ahead.

CDE leaders said that once funding is in place, they will begin planning for the additional substations.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/middle-tn-neighborhood-news/cde-lightband-rate-increase-new-substations/