The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Also taking a field trip to solar array
By Mark Reaman
The Gunnison County Electric Association (GCEA) board of directors will meet in Crested Butte next week to consider officially approving a proposed rate adjustment as part of the day-long agenda. The meeting will take place Wednesday, November 19 at the CB Center for the Arts in the King Community Room starting at 9 a.m. The rate adjustment discussion is scheduled to take place at 9:30 a.m.
The GCEA held a member informational hearing on the rate proposal via zoom on November 5. According to GCEA member relations supervisor Alliy Sahagun, about a dozen GCEA members attended the meeting. She said GCEA chief financial officer Mark VanderVeer presented the reasons the co-op is increasing rates in order to recover rising costs associated with the cost of wholesale power, operations and maintenance expenses and the need for capital investment to provide safe, reliable power.
The GCEA board is considering a 7.2% overall rate increase to take effect January 1, 2026. The average monthly residential member bill will increase $10.28 based on an average of 688kWh per month of usage. The last rate increase imposed by the GCEA was January 1, 2025 with an overall increase of 4.5%
As part of the November 19 meeting, the board will also attend the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Oh Be Joyful solar array south of town.
