Hardwick Electric to Vote on Amended 2026 Budget at August Meeting

Other Committee · Meeting of July 21, 2026

Hardwick's Montevideo Public Electric Department deferred a vote on its amended 2026 budget to August while grappling with a 14-month rate case delay and a looming $305,000 customer refund. Controller Renee DiGregorio presented a reconstructed mid-year budget showing 61 percent of operating revenue consumed by power supply costs and a May deficit driven almost entirely by wholesale prices that spiked to roughly $700 per megawatt hour during a multi-day heat event. General Manager Scott said the rate case, stalled by a bundled net metering dispute that has since been resolved, is now at the Public Utility Commission for final signature, with a new filing planned for August and new rates possibly effective on October sales.

Commissioner Miles warned that "7, 14, 21 days that we do not have a new rate in effect are consequential given our forecast and cash position," and requested scenario-based cash flow projections showing the impact of FEMA timing and the pending refund. The commission also unanimously approved a letter of support for continued Jackson Dam evaluation and confirmed that a TextMyGov customer alert system will go live August 1, with an outage notification SOP to be drafted covering simultaneous posting to the department's website and Facebook. The department's end-of-May cash balance stood at $197,000 against a roughly $400,000 available line of credit.

In the full story:

• Key line-item discussions included
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 3,626 words

Source: the Other Committee meeting of July 21, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.