1.5 ERMUSR 04-11-2017 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Municipal Utilities,Good for All of Us The question arises often, "Are municipal utilities good for the consuming public?" That question can be answered with a simple, "yes!" There are numerous reasons that municipal utilities are good for all of us. Utilities,whether that being electricity, natural gas,or sanitary sewer and water services are a necessity to function as a community. We all need electricity in order to produce goods and services that enable our community to prosper as an Energy City in Minnesota. Our utilities enable us to exist in an environment where we having running water,functioning bathroom facilities and the energy necessary to provide food and shelter for our families. In the City of Elk River, utility services are provided either through the City of Elk River Utility department or larger utility companies like Connexus Energy or CenterPoint Energy. All provide outstanding services, but a locally owned and operated utility service is different in that they serve in the community in which it exists. With that, Elk River Utilities has a personal connection with the people they serve. Most of the employees have either grown up here or fell in love with the community and decided to raise their families here. Having a personal connection to the community you serve tends to bring out the best decisions and results in a more trusting environment. An advantage of a municipally owned utility is that the City and the City Council can govern the decisions of said utility with input from the public it serves. Decision making can be done quickly and efficiently, most times providing a more economic resource. Larger utility companies don't always have the small community in mind when making decisions as they have a much larger area to serve. The decision making is done to try to do the best for the most population. Often times,those decisions are not good for the smaller communities being served. 4