The City of Marietta announced on its website that the cost of water and electricity will go up beginning January 1, 2024.

Marietta Power will raise electric rates by 2.5 percent.

Marietta Water’s price will increase by 3 percent.

The announcement on the website described the reasons for the increases and likely impact as follows:

The City of Marietta/Board of Lights and Water have not increased electric rates since January 1, 2013. 

The current electric increase is due to rising fuel costs, changes in market conditions for natural gas and coal, and the rising costs of maintenance and materials over the last few years. Marietta Power will raise electric rates 2.5% in January and another 2.5% in October. The average electric customer uses 850 kwh’s per month. They should expect to see their monthly bill in the winter increase by $2.37 while they will experience an additional monthly increase of $0.18 in the summer months for a total $2.55. 

The Public Service Commission states that Marietta Power is the 3rd lowest utility in the State at 500 kwh’s and the lowest in the State at 1000 kwh’s. We expect this to continue to be true after the rate increases in January. 

Marietta Water will raise its rates on January 1, 2024, by a total of 3%. Of the 3% increase, 2.5% are due to unavoidable wholesale cost increases from the City’s water supplier, the Cobb County Marietta Water Authority. The additional 0.5% will be for capital projects to better serve our customers. The average Marietta Water customer uses about four thousand gallons of water a month and should expect to see a monthly increase of $2.16.

About the City of Marietta

The City of Marietta is the county seat of Cobb County. The latest estimate from the U.S. Census Bureau puts the population of the city at 60,867 which makes it the second largest city in Cobb County by population, smaller only than the newly incorporated City of Mableton.

Here are a few quick facts from the Census Bureau