Customer Care » Rates, Fees, and Charges

Rates, Fees, and Charges

The Macon Water Authority (MWA) strives to provide the cleanest, safest, best tasting drinking water possible, which is fairly and reasonably priced for all utility customers. 

The rates, fees, and charges of the MWA are structured to include a base fee, calculated according to the size of a customer’s meter, as well as a variable or volumetric charge, based on consumption. Rates also vary according to residential (typically smaller meters and lower base fees) and non-residential (larger meters for commercial and industrial) customers in Macon/Bibb County. In addition, the wholesale rates for customers in Monroe County, Jones County, and the City of Byron, are established off of the retail rates for Macon/Bibb County customers.

In September of 2022, the MWA Board of Directors approved its most recent five-year rate plan, which included the adoption of rates for 2023 thru 2025. The rate plan, with these first three years of rates adopted, was completed through oversight of the MWA Finance Committee, following the MWA staff's in-depth analyses of customer demand trends, operational requirements of the utility, capital project needs, and debt-coverage targets.

Additionally, since 2020 and continuing to date, the MWA Board approved moving to a single tier rate structure that charges the same usage fee per CCF, regardless of total consumption. CCF is a unit of measurement that is equivalent to approximately 748 gallons.

The Authority implements rates according to a fiscally responsible and conservative approach. As a result, the MWA maintains some of the most competitive water and sewer rates in the state of Georgia and in the nation. As evidence, metrics used in a rate study conducted by the Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina conclude that the MWA has water/sewer rates that are significantly lower than similar utilities in Georgia. In addition, MWA rates are deemed affordable when calculating them as a percentage of median household income in Macon-Bibb County.

The following is an overview of ALL rates, fees, and charges, for MWA residential and non-residential customers in Macon/Bibb County:

2023 Rates/Fees for Residential Customers in Macon-Bibb.

2023 Rates/Fees for Non-Residential Customers in Macon-Bibb.