| Population | 1,950 |
| Electric customers | 970 |
| Utility formed | 1899 |
| Utility employees | 12, across electric, water, wastewater, and streets |
Nestled along the Wabash River in western Indiana, and home to the state’s highest free-falling waterfall, the town of Williamsport is often described as having a “Mayberry” feeling, referring to the fictional town from The Andy Griffith Show.
Kevin Strickler, the manager of utilities for Williamsport, echoed this sentiment, calling the town a great place to raise kids and have a family. Strickler should know — he grew up in Williamsport and raised his children there. Now, he has grandchildren who are growing up in the town.
He recalled seeing, as a child, the remains of a diesel generator that the city used to own. The town currently accesses its generation capacity needs through the Indiana Municipal Power Agency, and the site of the former generation facility is now in part where the local fire station sits.
Working for the community-owned utility in Williamsport, Strickler said, is “very rewarding.” While he acknowledged that working in such a setting doesn’t come with a cushy salary, he pointed out the advantages in the role. A key benefit, he said, is the connection to the people you are working for — friends, family, neighbors.
He also likes being able to have a hand in the various utility functions, which include water, wastewater, and streets in addition to electric service. One of his sons also works for the utility as a lineworker.
“Being so small, everyone does a little bit of everything,” said Strickler. “I don’t have people just working water or wastewater — they work in all different departments, have to help everybody out. Everyone chips in when need be.”
“You get asked to do some strange things sometimes, like getting a cat out of a tree or changing hospital streetlights,” he added.
Taking on these kinds of tasks is part of what he sees as the value of having a community-owned utility. About 12 years ago, Strickler said, he and the town recognized that the contractors hired to maintain certain infrastructure meant that the electric system and streets were not really getting maintained the way they should be. He and the other utility employees put in significant work over the past decade getting the system “back to where it needs to be,” including updating vegetation management and improving outage restoration.
Strickler said these efforts have helped Williamsport keep its rates low. “Hopefully public power helps with that situation, because having low-cost power means people can afford to live here.”
In 2022, Williamsport’s average revenue per kilowatt-hour reported to the Energy Information Administration was about 19% less than the average for residential customers of investor-owned utilities in the state and 11% less than the average for cooperative customers.
While he said the community has not seen much change in recent decades, the town is “in a little bit of a growing process.” He said Williamsport is set up for growth, including an apartment complex with 48 units that is ready to go in. Strickler said the utility has already done the legwork to know that it could put services to the complex online when needed.
The apartments are only part of the growth Strickler would like to see. He recalled how, decades ago, a local hardware store had been the de facto community meeting place. When a fire burned down the store and other parts of the town in the 1980s, that meeting place was lost. Now, residents have to drive 30 miles to get to the nearest hardware store.
In addition to attracting businesses back, community efforts have included developing a network of trails extending from the waterfall and along the river out to nearby universities and surrounding counties.
