City electric users will see their rates rise early next year. By how much is not known.

During Monday’s City Council meeting, Raj Rao with the Indiana Municipal Power Agency, the city’s power provider, said starting early next year, IMPA’s rates at which they sell power to the city will go up 14 percent.

The reason, Rao said, was increases in fuel and other costs, like infrastructure and future investments.

“It’s not what we want to see but we want to show you all why your bills are increasing,” Rao said. “

Rao gave examples of price increases, such as coal doubling in price in three years and due to high construction costs, a proposed power plant that IMPA is a partner in building in Illinois has doubled in cost in five years.

Mayor Larry Haag said the city would have to raise its electric rates, the first time in 20 years, to compensate. He compared wasteful electric use to drug addiction and said the city could save 30 percent in electric use easily.

“We have no other choice but to raise our rates because our expenses are going up,” Haag said. “The more juice you pull through that meter, the more you are going to pay. That’s simple economics.”

Haag said he didn’t know what he and Utility Office Manager Anita Ash were going to do for some utility customers.

“What are we going to do in January or February when we have Mrs. Smith or Mrs. Jones or Mrs. Haag come through and we know she is working three jobs and she can’t pay her electric bill?” Haag said. “We are going to have to shut her off.”

Haag, after Rao’s explanation of why their rates would increase, said the city and its residents have to focus on conservation and “change the culture in Washington, Indiana.”

“First of all, we need to educate ourselves,” Haag said. “Then, we need to educate the citizens of Washington.”

Even city government would have to become more efficient, Haag said. He joked about sitting between two incandescent, instead of compact fluorescent, light bulbs at the city council chambers.

“We need true change, because you get the same utility out of that compact fluorescent bulb than a regular bulb,” Haag said. “The only difference is, you pay about 40 percent less.”

Rao agreed. He asked city government to help get the word out on energy conservation. This week, a city utility employee will be learning energy conservation at a seminar in Indianapolis. Haag said that employee, lineman Dustin Smith, will be taking the lessons he learns to local schools and groups and teach energy conservation.

“Once we (educate ourselves), we can embrace and empower those new technologies and push them down to the consumers,” Haag said.