Rates to climb June 30 for GMU customers

A variety of factors work into the fact that Greenfield Municipal Utilities’ board of trustees voted to raise rates for water and electrical customers at a meeting Tuesday, May 10. The new rates will take effect June 30.

Water rates will go up 15% and electric rates will increase 5%.

“The rate increases are directly related to increase in costs associated to the electric and water system, such as materials, fuel, chemicals, equipment, and fixed costs such as insurance and wages,” GMU General Manager Scott Tonderum told the newspaper in an email. “In addition to the previous items, the cost of electric power from our supplier has had minimal increases and we are continually increasing water rates to meet the regulatory compliance requirements that are contributing to the need for upgrading our existing water treatment plant.”

Tonderum said that while he cannot predict future rate increases, they are directly related, in part, to the cost of materials GMU needs to keep its water and electrical systems in top working order. That is directly related to minimizing customer outages and providing reliable service.

Tonderum said GMU’s current water treatment plant, located on the southwest side of Greenfield near the city lakes, is operating at maximum capacity currently. He said it is nearing 40 years of age and runs an average of 16 to 20 hours per day.