Menasha Utilities is dedicated to meeting our customers’ needs while helping to make the community a better place to live and work. We are one of the country's 2,200 public power systems — a utility owned by the people and community it serves.
Menasha Utilities is a non-profit organization and our mission is to provide safe, reliable, and environmentally sound utilities at reasonable rates to all customers served.
Local Ownership
A five-member Utility Commission, appointed by the City of Menasha Common Council, decides how to operate Menasha Utilities. This local representation and control allows all citizens to have a voice in how our utility can best meet the community’s needs. Community ownership and control is the hallmark of public power - local people working together to meet local needs.
At Menasha Utilities we go the extra mile to make sure you receive that personal service that makes us proud to be serving a great community.
We're proud to be your locally owned and operated utility. As neighbors, we take our responsibility to you very seriously. We know you want reliable power at an affordable cost. You also want a utility provider who cares enough to go the extra mile today...and who has the know-how to build for tomorrow.
To ensure that we're here for a long time, we share resources with other local utilities. In fact, we're co-owners of a nonprofit, Sun Prairie-based power company, WPPI Energy. Through WPPI Energy, we purchase low-cost electricity for our community and take advantage of the latest technologies to better serve your needs.
There are 82 municipal electric utilities in Wisconsin. Like Menasha, these communities believe that public power is the best choice for their communities and citizens. Here are a few of the reasons why.
Committed to our Community
A community-owned utility is owned by the city or municipality it serves. It exists to provide a public service to the residents and businesses of the community. Service - rather than profit - is the utility's mission.
Quick On-Site Response
We work hard to make sure you don't experience a power outage. Some things like storms and accidents are out of out control, but when an outage does occur, we're always just a few minutes away. We'll get to the problem and fix it as quickly as we possibly can.
Keeping Dollars in the Community
Here are some of the ways a municipal utility helps to maintain a sound local economy:
- Local ownership means that customers' enery dollars stay in the community - creating jobs and supporting the local economy.
- Municipal utilities serve as an engine for economic development. Local flexibility and quality service offered by municipal utilities are a major advantage for the community in attracting and retaining commercial and industrial customers.
- Municipal utilities make significant payments-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) to the city. Although it is owned by the municipality, Menasha Utilities funds itself solely through electric and water sales to customers. The utility helps relieve the local tax burden by making PILOT payments to the City of Mensha totaling nearly $1.3 million dollars annually.
- On average, municipal utility rates are competitiveand often lower than those of other utilities. Competitive rates means more dollars are available to spend on other goods and services, which boosts the local economy.
Community Values
Decisions about the operation of a municipal utility are made locally - by members of the community - at open, public meetings. Because all decisions are made locally, a municipal utility is uniquely able to respond to the community's needs, build on the community's strengths, and reflect and advance the community's values.