GCEA board approves electric rate increase come January

Throw in another $10 a month…

By Mark Reaman

If you are a member of the Gunnison County Electric Association (GCEA), you will see an increase in your electric bill starting this coming January. GCEA member relations supervisor Alliy Sahagun said this week that the 2026 GCEA overall 7.2% rate increase was approved by the board of directors on November 19.

This increase spans all rate classes and will be distributed across the energy or kWh charge and demand charge (for large power and industrial accounts). There will be no increase to the monthly service availability charge. Residential bills will see an increase of approximately $10.28.

According to the GCEA website, the rate adjustment is necessary to cover increasing operating costs and ensure continued delivery of safe and reliable electric service to GCEA members. The 7.2% is actually smaller than originally anticipated but the increase is primarily driven by rising costs for wholesale power, labor, materials and support services and the need to replace aging infrastructure to maintain reliability. To help lessen the impact of these higher operating costs on members, GCEA’s Board of Directors approved the use of deferred revenue to cover part of the increase needed to meet the 2026 budget. 

The last rate increase GCEA imposed was January 1, 2025, with an overall increase of 4.5%.