Tell City Electric touts top reliability, safety honors in Perry County

Tell City Electric is making a direct pitch to Perry County customers: the utility says its system averages just 20 minutes without power a year, excluding major events, compared with 169 minutes nationwide. That reliability claim is now paired with another measure of performance, as the department says it also received the American Public Power Association’s highest safety award and holds Diamond Level status.

The numbers matter because they speak to the daily questions that follow any outage in Tell City, from spoiled food and disrupted business operations to whether repairs are handled quickly and safely. Tell City Electric says it is one of 106 public power utilities in the United States to reach Diamond Level and one of only two in Indiana to do so. APPA’s RP3 designation recognizes reliability, safety, workforce development and system improvement, and the association says public power utilities have posted the fewest outage minutes among utility types in data covering 2013 through 2024.

The utility is also trying to make service information easier to reach. Its homepage links outage information, local weather alerts and MyMeter energy tracking, while the contact page tells customers to report outages and emergencies at 812-547-3411, a line answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For residents in Tell City and across Perry County, that kind of communication can make the difference between waiting in the dark and knowing when service may return.

Behind the public message, the department says it is governed by a board appointed by the mayor and city council, with the city council holding final approval authority over rates and charges. The general manager oversees 18 full-time employees, and the utility is a member-owner of the Indiana Municipal Power Agency, a joint-action agency formed in 1983 by municipalities to share power resources.

Tell City Electric also points to recent infrastructure work, including a ribbon-cutting for the JB Land Substation on Sept. 17, 2024. That project, along with the reliability and safety honors, gives the city a concrete way to judge whether the utility’s performance translates into fewer outages, safer operations and, eventually, stronger service for customers who rely on the grid every day.