Holiday displays shine on amid rising electricity costs

ELKHART COUNTY, Ind. -- According to the US Energy Inflation Administration, electricity prices and electric bills will continue to increase into 2026.

However, that's not stopping one Elkhart County family from putting on quite the Christmas show.

To say Fran Roberts and her husband Gary are getting into the Christmas spirit would be quite the understatement, but with around 200 inflatables billowing around their property, you can imagine how quickly the household's electric bill adds up.

It's a tradition that's gone on for around a decade at the corner of C.R. 10, and C.R, 6 West.

But for the Roberts', it doesn't come without a hefty price tag.

Fran tells ABC57 the usual electric bill for the holiday season climbs to more than 1,300 dollars.

When asked if she considered scaling back or scrapping the idea altogether though, the answer was clear.

"I can't, it's not in my heart. Don't get me wrong, behind closed doors, I told my husband, there's going to be a beautiful Christmas display on Facebook marketplace in January, but the other side of the coin is just I can't, it just brings a lot of happiness to the community, it brings happiness to me and my family, we just love it," said Fran Roberts, Elkhart County homeowner.

Roberts tells ABC57 during non-holiday months, their electric bill is usually down around 700 dollars.