Pioneer customers to see first increase in three years

A couple of factors play into why Pioneer Rural Water will increase its retail charge to its customers in southern Oconee and the upper part of Anderson County.  An increase to affect customers whose use exceeds six thousand gallons a month figures into the new budget approved this afternoon by the Pioneer board of directors.  But also playing a part are the costs associated with the continual problems created by algae blooms in the vicinity of Pioneer’s Lake Hartwell intake.  On the bill of a customer using                          six thousand gallons a month, Pioneer manager Terry Pruitt says, the impact will be an additional $2.40 a month.  Pruitt says it’s the first Pioneer retail increase since 2018.  The Pioneer board over the next year is budgeting monies to pay for two separate treatments of the algae problem which, for some customers, creates water smell and taste issues.