This is the first experience many college students will have with a utility company, so my staff and I are committed to making it a great one.
Unlike many of your hometown utilities, Gainesville Regional Utilities is a one-stop shop. We provide electric, natural gas, water and, for those who live in a GATOR NET community, high-speed internet. We also treat wastewater at our two local facilities and work with the City of Gainesville to bill for their solid waste and stormwater services.
We have lots of Gators among our 800-plus employees and like nothing better than watching one of our UF interns develop into a permanent member of the team. One such example is an engineer and utility designer in our Energy Supply Department who learned about engineering at a UF camp, later attended UF with the help of GRU’s Brighter Tomorrow Scholarship program, became an intern here and then an employee. He is one of the many who represent our symbiotic relationship.
Like many municipal utilities, GRU is governed by an independent board. Our board, which has been in place since 2023, is called the GRU Authority. It meets publicly on the second Wednesday of every month, so feel free to attend.
Under the Authority, GRU customers have seen bills decrease while many other utility customers around the state have experienced the opposite. This is quite the turnaround for us. Prior to the Authority, when the Gainesville City Commission was in charge of GRU, our customer bills were the highest or among the highest in the state, which was unacceptable.
I’m telling you this because in November the city will hold a special election to try and return utility governance to the City Commission. It’s a significant vote that I’m confident will impact how much you pay for utilities throughout college and beyond. Most of the time, you won’t think about your utilities. In fact, I would hazard to guess the only time you’ll ever think about them is if they don’t work or when you pay your monthly bill. That notwithstanding, I have assembled a list of tips that may come in handy throughout the year.
- If you have any questions about your bill, please call us at 352-334-3434 before going on Reddit. We have excellent customer service reps who will answer any questions you may have.
- Follow us on X @GRUStormCentral for updates during power outages.
- You can find our outage map and storm tips at www.gru.com/stormcentral.
- If you have any electrical issues, for instance, partial power, call GRU at 352-334-2871 before calling an electrician. We will fix any issues on our end and may be able to save you a lot of money.
- If your power goes out or you see a downed power line, report it to 352-334-2871.
- If you have a water or wastewater emergency, call 352-334-2711.
- Create an online account at gru.com. This is the best way to manage payments, receive important messaging and monitor usage.
- To save money, set your thermostat to 78° in the summer and 68° in the winter. If you must adjust either, do it in one- or two-degree increments to avoid a spike in usage.
- Set your A/C to “auto” instead of “on.” If set to “on,” it will run continuously; if set to “auto,” it will stop running after reaching the desired temperature.
- If your toilet is continuously running, fix it quickly. You’d be surprised how expensive that can be.
Again, we want to make sure your experience with GRU is a great one. You can find more helpful information at gru.com/welcome or call us at 352-334-3434.
Go Gators!
Ed Bielarski is the CEO of Gainesville Regional Utilities.
