GRU increases electric fuel adjustment
Press release from Gainesville Regional Utilities
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – GRU is increasing its electric fuel adjustment from 35 mills to 40 mills in January, as cold temperatures across the country have caused the price of natural gas to increase.
GRU does not profit from the fuel adjustment. The fuel adjustment is a pass-through charge that covers the amount GRU pays for the fuel it uses to produce electricity. The utility regularly evaluates this charge and increases or lowers it based on market conditions. Winter increases are common as utilities in colder climates use more heat and increase the demand for fuel.
GRU takes steps to mitigate increases by entering long-term, pre-paid fuel arrangements and by maintaining a fleet of power plants that run on a variety of fuel sources.
Since 2023, GRU has steadily decreased residential electric bills and gone from the second most expensive electric provider in the state to the middle third of the 37 utilities tracked by the Florida Municipal Electric Association.
To help keep bills down during the winter months and offset any increases related to the fuel charge, GRU recommends customers follow these cold-weather tips:
- Set your thermostat to 68° F.
- Raise your thermostat one or two degrees at a time to avoid activating expensive emergency heat strips.
- Lower your thermostat when leaving home for eight hours or more.
- Weather strip doors and caulk windows.
- Check your air filter monthly and change when needed.
- Open curtains during the day to let sunlight in and then close them at night.
- Keep your fireplace damper closed when not in use.
- Set the temperature on your hot water heater to 120°.
Additionally, customers can request a member of our trained staff to come out and inspect their windows, doors, ductwork, insulation, appliances, and other equipment, and then offer customized tips for making their homes more efficient. You can learn more about this free service here.
Noooooo!
If “GRU takes steps to mitigate increases by entering long-term, pre-paid fuel arrangements” then why the need for this seasonal increase? You are stating that you hedged against this known seasonal demand increase while also stating you have to raise prices…which is it? What this press release is saying is that you paid a premium on long term contracts as a hedge but still must increase our rates…that’s double dipping screwing us over. Do better.
GRU’s cost of natural gas is still dictated by macro-economic supply and demand. Our costs are built off of regional indices. When the price of natural gas goes up it is not unlike gasoline prices at the pump. That said, the prepayment arrangements we entered into didn’t cap our costs; it created discounts off of those indices. In our case, we receive approximately 50 cents, on average those indices which are in the middle $4 a mm btu. We did do better. We saved about $5 million against those indices.
Thank you for the explanation.
I don’t think people appreciate the effort you and GRU are making to keep customers aware of changes.
We simply would not get that from another CEO.
I want to know why my water bill usage fluctuates from 1,000 gallons to 2,000 gallons then back to 1,000 gallons then increases again to 2,000 gallons when I have the same habits every month. Somehow GRU thinks I used 2,000 gallons of water last month when I wasn’t even watering any plants outside. The infuriating thing about it is that I have a “smart” meter, but GRU can’t tell me when the computer reads the meter so that I can check the meter at that time to make sure that what my meter is actually reading matches what GRU says the usage is. That’s just good accounting practice. My bill states “actual usage” so it’s not an estimate, per GRU’s website.
Install another flow meter between their meter and your house. then you will know.
This is the important part:
“Since 2023, GRU has steadily decreased residential electric bills and gone from the second most expensive electric provider in the state to the middle third of the 37 utilities tracked by the Florida Municipal Electric Association.”
That didn’t happen under the City Commission, whose members masqueraded as responsible stewards of GRU profits instead of the fiscally incompetent idiots they are.
Unfortunately, there’s a group of idiots that want to give that incompetence back to the Commission.
It wasn’t the cold that caused the price to go up, as here in Gainesville it really hasn’t been that cold. They raise the rates because it’s cold elsewhere. The fact is GRU shut down the clean coal power generating station and rely only on Natural Gas Generation or power from other Utilities. They do have a few solar farms but they don’t produce much. We as residents don’t hear much more about the Biomess plant anymore.
America is one of if not the largest producer of natural gas in the world.
As such, one would think the gas rates would be low. Everywhere else but Gainesville it would be. You folks are being fleeced once again.
GRU doesn’t set the NG prices and they’ve jumped a lot since last year.
https://www.eia.gov/dnav/ng/hist/n3035fl3m.htm
Only the GRU”Authority” has the power to do this- NOT Bielarski. What is the “fuel levelization balance”? It can fluctuate up and down well outside the ranges established by ordinance. GRU has in 2025 increased residential rates above 1000 kwh by 8% making GRU the 3rd highest out of 37 not counting surcharges, bundled storm water and solid waste fees and pyramided taxes.