GAINESVILLE, FL:

Amid complaints of the high cost of doing business in Gainesville, the Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring a study to find out if it really does cost more to pay the power bill in Gainesville. The Chamber has commissioned a new Energy Study Group to see if Gainesville Regional Utilities' rates are very different from utilities in cities roughly the same size as Gainesville. 12 volunteers including Former Mayor David Flagg and retired Economics Professor David Denslow will gather the economic data. Among other things, they will examine how GRU is governed and whether other city commissions act as the governing board of their utility.

"We need to have the data collected to analyze where are we as a community, where are our costs, how does our governance work, and so that we can objectively set targets on where we think we should be to remain competitive," Tim Giuliani (Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce President) said.

Group leaders hope to release the report of their findings by mid summer.