Board Meeting held on November 13, 2025

2026 Budget and Rate Adjustments Approved

Average residential bill will increase by approximately $8.97 per month

The board unanimously approved the proposed 2026 budget and the required aggregated rate increase of 6.8%, which will go into effect on January 1, 2026.

The change to residential electric service rates will be in the form of a $1 increase to the service availability charge and just over a 1-cent increase in the kWh charge. The average residential bill of 752 kWh will increase by approximately  $8.97 per month.

Because of the rising costs resulting from inflation, the 7-year gap from 2016-2023 of no rate increases at MPE, and continuing cost pressures on equipment, materials, labor, and transmission, a rate increase was anticipated, which is
also a nationwide trend. MPE’s wholesale power costs are set by a long-term contract that includes pre-determined rates through 2045. This helps to insulate our members from any price swings in the power market.

Power Systems Engineering was again consulted to provide their expert analysis on MPE’s 2026 rate structure using the Cost of Service and Rate Study they performed in 2024. While designing the updated rates for MPE’s classes of member-customers, the motivation was to make the rates objective, fair, and equitable. To see the public notice of all the rates and tariff revisions, visit www.MPEI.com/Rates.

Key takeaways from the 2026 budget include:

  • While departments identified many areas of need for new full-time employees, only one remained in the budget presented to the board – a Contractor Supervisor.
  • Federal funds of $7,768,929 million are allocated for eight important grid hardening/fire mitigation projects for Phase 2 of the grant from the Colorado Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Management and FEMA.
  • Although MPE has been awarded a more than $100 million grant from the USDA Rural Utility Service’s New ERA program, these grant funds will not be recognized in the budget until MPE begins receiving grant payments and the board directs how the funds are to be utilized.

Other Board Meeting Items

  • The board approved temporary expansion of the Boost Program to assist local families impacted by the federal government shutdown. Any MPE members who live within the service area and can present a notice of furlough for federal employees or other documentation proving the lost time of work for sub-contractors with the federal government can receive the Boost Program’s 20% discounted electric rate applied for the month of October.
  • The board approved an update to Tariff 341: Generation Interconnection Application Charges to add an application fee of $250 for Level 1 Interconnection (generation of 25 KW or less). Fees of $600 and $1,000 were already in place for Level 2 and Level 3, respectively. At the same time, MPE has doubled the Clean Power Program rebate from $500 to $1,000 for eligible solar systems.
  • The board had its final review of donation requests from the Unclaimed Capital Credits Fund for 2025 and approved the following donations: $25,000 for the Fraser Valley Center for the Arts, contingent on Fraser Valley Arts reaching a fundraising goal of $6 million; $15,000 for Mountain Family Center for their food pantry and client services; $9,000 for the EGSD/WGSD 8th Grade Washington DC Trip; $8,000 for the Grand County Wildfire Council’s community chipping days and capacity support; and $5,000 for the Dumont Depot Renovation and Family Train Ride.

View the November 2025 Board Meeting Bulletin PDF

 

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