City council met Thursday (5/19/2016) night to continue discussion about the valuation study of Murfreesboro Electric Department (MED).

The council received a letter from President of Middle Tennessee Electric Membership Corporation (MTEMC) Chris Jones which was presented by Mayor McFarland. It stated that they are no longer looking at purchasing Murfreesboro Electric Department.

On May 12, 2016, the city approved a motion to end the valuation study with Phase 1 and not pursue the Phase 2 valuation study.

Hopefully, MED Workers Will Relax

As the council meeting ended, the uncertainty felt by many MED workers eased.

Councilman Ron Washington, retired longtime MTEMC employee, chose to stay out of the year-long discussions because of potential conflicts of interest. He made a comment for the first time, "As far as I'm concerned, the operations wouldn't have changed. All I'm going to say is thank God for the employees at MED. I hope you all can finally have some relief."

Amy Byers voiced the concern of many longtime MED employees, who over almost year of valuation studies, were stressed at not knowing how secure their jobs might be.

During the time when the study was being made, MED line-workers, technicians and other staff members were reportedly in a period of limbo with their life. Many chose not to purchase cars, major appliances, take vacations and other big ticket items, since they did not know what their future held.

Byers emphasized the importance of MED and city officials working together to benefit the public . . .

MTEMC announced last year that the utility had asked the City of Murfreesboro to enter discussions on a potential sale and consolidation of MED into MTEMC.

Middle Tennessee Electric (MTEMC) serves 205,000 residential and business accounts in a service territory that includes Williamson, Wilson, Rutherford, and Cannon counties.

Murfreesboro Electric Department serves approximately 55,000 homes and businesses within the city limits.

MED General Manager Steve Sax said that in the next six months that number may exceed 60,000.