The Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority approved a fiscal year 2027 budget in June that includes no electric base rate increases for the third consecutive year.
"The budget reflects the customer-first approach GRU adopted when the independent Authority was appointed in 2023. With this budget, the utility continues to focus on diligently paying down debt, pricing services fairly, ensuring safe and reliable utilities and adopting new technology," the Florida public power utility said.
“I was adamant about not raising electric base rates,” said GRU CEO Ed Bielarski. “Our staff has done a great job of finding efficiencies and doing more with less to make that happen for our customers three years in a row."
Bielarski’s stance bucks a national trend of rising electric costs and sits in stark contrast to a cumulative 9% base rate hike the City Commission had previously approved, the utility noted.
“Under the City Commission, GRU was required to support city services it couldn’t afford without putting an undue financial burden on our customers,” Bielarski said. “Under the Authority, we still transfer profits to the city’s general fund, but it’s an amount that doesn’t harm our customers.”
GRU’s budget for FY27 is $438.5 million, less than 2% higher than last year’s budget. The approved budget balances operational efficiencies and debt reduction with the need to continue investing in infrastructure improvements, the most significant of which are partially grant-funded upgrades to the Main Street Water Reclamation Facility.
To support infrastructure needs in the Water/Wastewater Department – including the once-in-a-generation Main Street upgrades that helped secure the community’s water supply for the next 30 years – the GRUA has approved a modest 1.75% increase for wastewater customers and a 2% increase for water customers. Natural gas rates remain unchanged.
New rates take effect Oct. 1, 2026.
