On Tuesday, President and CEO Jim Johnson had the opportunity to facilitate a conversation at Breakfast Links with Georgetown City Manager David Morgan and Georgetown Utility Systems General Manager Jim Briggs on the recent information regarding the city’s energy prices. The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce believes it is important for our members to be informed on this topic:
- The Georgetown Utility Systems has been around since 1910. It is a community-owned and operated electric utility, owned by the people of Georgetown which invests directly in the community.
- Depressed energy prices and a drop in consumer demand meant the City ended the 2018 fiscal year with a $6.84 million shortfall in the electric fund.
- To help recover some of the costs of purchasing energy, the City raised the monthly electric bill for all customers (residential and business). Business and Residential customers will incur an increase of $0.0135 per kilowatt hour, resulting in a new PCA of $0.0175 per kilowatt hour through September. The average residential customer would see an increase of $12.82 per month starting February 1, 2019.
- The City is addressing these ongoing challenges by working to change the on-going financial obligations of the electric fund by reducing the energy Georgetown is obligated to purchase, selling a portion of the energy to a third-party and adjusting the terms of some of the financial obligations.
- The City of Georgetown is also seeking proposals from 3rd party vendors to manage the City’s energy portfolio and complete a comprehensive review of the City’s management practices in purchasing and managing energy.
We encourage members to be informed on this topic and the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce will continue to monitor the issue and provide updates to our members.
Please visit the Georgetown Energy Contract FAQ’s page for additional details or email ms@georgetown.org for the city to speak to your organization.
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