City hopes to find areas of savings during utility review

GROSSE POINTE CITY — Grosse Pointe City officials are hoping a free utility review will result in long-term savings for the municipality.

The Grosse Pointe City Council voted unanimously June 17 in favor of a consulting services agreement with Petoskey-based firm Tenurgy, whereby Tenurgy will study all the City’s utility expenses and look for possible savings. City Manager Joseph Valentine said the utility review program was offered for free to all Michigan Chamber of Commerce members.

Besides other cities, Valentine said nonprofits including The War Memorial and the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House have used Tenurgy.

“There’s no cost to us,” Valentine said of entering into the agreement.

If Tenurgy finds any areas where the community can reduce its utility costs, the agreement calls for the City and Tenurgy to split the amount of those savings by 50% over a three-year period.

However, as Valentine noted, the City is “not obligated to do anything.”

He said Tenurgy considers a wide array of utilities, from telecommunications to gas and electric services.

In response to a question from Mayor Sheila Tomkowiak, Valentine said there’s also zero cost to the City if Tenurgy doesn’t identify any areas of potential savings.

“That sounds pretty safe,” Tomkowiak said.

Tenurgy’s clients across Michigan have included Alpena, Bloomfield Township, Mount Pleasant, Petoskey, Martha T. Berry Medical Care Facility, Huron County Medical Care Facility, Saginaw County, Sanilac County and many more. In a testimonial, one medical care facility official said Tenurgy found a water/sewer billing error that resulted in the facility receiving a refund of more than $100,000 and a monthly savings of more than $7,000.

“It looks like they have a pretty good track record,” City Councilman Dave Fries said.

Other officials concurred that it would be a good idea for the City to enter into the agreement with Tenurgy.

“It seems like a no-brainer,” City Councilman Christopher Walsh said.