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Marshfield Utilities touts reliability, seeks DNR loan step for permanent PFAS treatment
Summary
Marshfield Utilities presented its annual “value of the utility” report, highlighting outage performance, customer programs and nearly $2 million in contributions to the city, and the council approved a reimbursement resolution to pursue DNR Safe Drinking Water loan funding for a permanent PFAS treatment facility.
Marshfield Utilities presented its 2026 “value of the utility” report at the City of Marshfield common council meeting on June 23, with General Manager Nicholas Hung outlining recent performance, customer programs and a potential financing step to install a permanent PFAS treatment facility.
Hung told the council that the utility contributed just under $2,000,000 this year to the city through pilots and dividends and compared outage performance favorably to nearby investor-owned utilities, reporting an average outage duration for customers of just under 36 minutes in 2025. He said trees, squirrels and birds were the leading causes of outages in 2025 and that two major events—the March ice storm and a vehicle accident—accounted for nearly half of outage minutes.
On water, Hung reported that the utility pumped nearly 3/4 of 1,000,000,000 gallons in 2025, repaired 45 water main breaks and secured nearly $600,000 from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to replace lead service lines on private property. He also described customer-facing programs: 916 households received energy assistance totaling $160,478 in 2025, and the utility has provided more than $1.5 million in customer incentives since 2019.
Councilors asked technical and operational questions; Hung said the utility has met current state testing requirements for PFAS and that the permanent treatment facility is designed to meet both present and anticipated regulatory needs. He said Marshfield was ranked near the top of the DNR’s preliminary project priority list for emerging contaminants and noted that proposed changes to the DNR program could increase principal forgiveness and reduce costs to customers.
The council then approved resolution 2026-12, a reimbursement resolution needed to support the utility’s application for the DNR Safe Drinking Water Fund loan program. Hung emphasized that the resolution does not obligate the city or utility to accept loan proceeds; rather it establishes the city’s intent to reimburse eligible project costs from future loan proceeds if funding is awarded and accepted.
Next steps: Marshfield Utilities will continue to pursue DNR funding and return to the council with any further loan terms or requests that would require council approval.
