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Cleveland City Council questioned utility officials on Tuesday about how they鈥檒l prevent power outages this summer. But the conversation turned toward Cleveland Public Power鈥檚 long-term needs.

CPP leaders said they鈥檝e stepped up maintenance in recent months, trimming more trees around power lines. They鈥檙e also deploying sensors this summer to detect problems in the system, Commissioner Ivan Henderson said.

Council President Kevin Kelley pressed the administration to explain how it will prevent outages in the summer months, when residents鈥� air conditioners put more strain in the system. An outage last August left some 40,000 customers without power on the west side.

鈥淚鈥檝e never called and not gotten a response,鈥� Kelley said. 鈥淚鈥檝e never not gotten timely service, but I am extremely concerned about the overall health of the system.鈥�

Public Utilities Director Robert Davis told council that the city鈥檚 electric infrastructure needs help beyond short-term maintenance. He said the system needs $175 million to $200 million in improvements.

鈥淥ur system is aging,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淟et鈥檚 make no mistake about that. Maintenance alone is not going to take care of this situation as a whole. We haven鈥檛 raised rates or had any type of rate discussion, in terms of base rates, for 35 years.鈥�

Davis said CPP spends 13 cents of every dollar on infrastructure, but that it鈥檚 not enough. Last year, the utility hired NewGen to study CPP鈥檚 rates, finances and capital needs.

Councilman Brian Kazy said Davis seemed to be laying the foundation to talk about how to pay for that infrastructure.

鈥淎nd that鈥檚 only going to come, probably, from one place, which is down the line a possible rate increase,鈥� Kazy said. 鈥淪o we know that this side of the table has been waiting for the rate study for some time.鈥�

Davis said he hopes to share the results of the rate study with council in the coming months. He said the city intends for the study to be comprehensive, examining more than just CPP鈥檚 finances.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we鈥檙e taking the time,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ecause we want to bring you something that you can hold your hat on and say, 鈥楲ook, I can make, based on the facts, I can make an educated decision.鈥欌��