PUC investigates Xcel over serious billing errors and customer complaints

Last September, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) initiated an investigation into Xcel Energy in response to concerns about rising levels of customer billing errors. To address related concerns raised by CUB and the Legal Services Advocacy Project, the PUC is also considering "whether there is a need for a third-party investigation to identify, address, and resolve the issues raised.”  The PUC wants to hear about your experience with Xcel’s customer service and billing departments.

CUB's policy team has previously worked extensively with Xcel's staff and other stakeholders to look for opportunities to improve their service quality. Often in collaboration with Xcel, we’ve improved the company’s disconnection policies, secured expanded protections for customers during periods of extreme heat and poor air quality, and the PUC recently addressed rising shutoff rates by ending Xcel’s practice of remote disconnection.

On the flip side, CUB’s outreach team interacts with Xcel customers every week, and we’ve heard repeated stories of poor customer service, incorrect bills, inability to arrange affordable payment plans, and difficulty accessing basic information about energy usage. Meanwhile, Xcel shut off a record number of customers in 2025, and past-due bills remain stubbornly high.

CUB is concerned there may be systemic problems within Xcel’s customer service organization. As Minnesota’s nonprofit consumer advocate, we want you to share your story so the PUC can understand these issues and take any action needed to address them.

If you’ve ever been issued an incorrect monthly bill from Xcel, if you’ve had trouble working with Xcel customer service, or if you’ve had difficulties related to your billing or energy usage information, submit a comment today.

You can submit a comment by emailing consumer.puc@state.mn.us and including Docket #25-341 in the subject line. You can also use the PUC’s online comment form. Please know that any information included with your comment (e.g. your name, email address, etc.) will be visible as part of the public record.*

*If you aren’t comfortable submitting a comment that will become a part of the public record, we still want to hear from you about your experience with Xcel. Please email CUB at contact@cubminnesota.org. 

Why did the PUC open an investigation into Xcel Energy?

Within the PUC, the Consumers Affairs Office (CAO) investigates complaints from consumers about their utility service. Whenever CUB works with a consumer who can’t reach an agreement with their utility provider, we refer them to the CAO. Their staff mediates between a consumer and their utility to work towards an acceptable resolution of any issues. 

According to the CAO, there’s been a marked increase in complaints related to incorrect billing from Xcel’s residential customers. In 2019, there were 210 billing complaints from Xcel customers. In 2024, that number exploded to 1,191, an increase of over 450%. The CAO recently shared an update stating that it has "not observed a significant improvement in Xcel's performance regarding billing errors." 

Data filed by Xcel itself further illustrates these issues. By law, Minnesota’s regulated utilities must submit yearly service quality reports. 

Relatedly, here’s what we know from Xcel’s Service Quality reports for 2024 and 2025:

• In 2025, Xcel disconnected 56,823 residential customers, the most shutoffs of any year in CUB's 11 years of records. This exceeds their previous record of 52,549 shutoffs set in 2024.
• If Xcel exceeds a certain number of customer complaints in a given year, the company must pay a $1 million penalty. In both 2024 and 2025, Xcel exceeded this threshold.
• By law, utilities must “answer 80 percent of calls made to the business office during regular business hours within 20 seconds.” Xcel failed to meet this metric in 2024 and paid a $1 million penalty.

As a result of the alarming trend in billing errors complaints by residential customers, the PUC ordered an investigation to identify the cause of the increase. Since it opened the investigation in 2025, the PUC has expanded its scope to include billing errors for all of Xcel’s customer classes—residential, commercial, and industrial—as well as to consider whether a third-party investigation is needed to address concerns raised by CUB and the Legal Services Advocacy Project related to Xcel’s quality of service and customer communications.

Now the PUC has opened a public comment period, seeking input on what actions the Commission should take to rectify the increase in complaints as well as any related issues or concerns that are arising. The PUC needs to hear from Xcel customers about their experiences, so that they can understand the types of issues customers have faced and how commonly these problems arise.

What are Xcel customers saying?

A record of customers’ frustrating experiences with Xcel is being developed at the PUC.

The Building Owners and Managers Association of Greater Minneapolis (BOMA), a trade association representing real estate interests in the Twin Cities metro, got the ball rolling with concerns raised in a July 2025 filing:

“….at least 23 BOMA members, many of whom own multiple buildings, have experienced issues with Xcel Energy’s customer service, largely comprised of delayed and inaccurate bills, misapplied payments, and ineffective communications and resolutions. Many of these issues stem from Xcel’s billing system and its customer service team. BOMA members have contacted Xcel Energy an extraordinary number of times seeking resolution of these issues.”

According to BOMA, its members’ experiences with billing and invoice delays, egregious billing errors, lack of solar credits, and Xcel’s failure to post payments in a timely manner has resulted in late fees and disconnection notices. 

Since BOMA’s filing, entities including All Energy Solar, New Horizons Academy, and the City of Edina have submitted comments describing the issues they’ve faced with Xcel’s billing and customer service.

On the residential side, CUB and the Legal Services Advocacy Project filed comments speaking to some of the experiences and struggles customers have shared with us. For example, customers have reported: 

• Xcel has been inflexible in setting payment arrangements, against the requirements of state statutes, and has not permitted customers to negotiate these arrangements with the appropriate utility representatives.
• Xcel agents have neglected to share information about Xcel’s affordability programs as well as crisis grants available to them through the Energy Assistance Program, when customers call for help paying for unaffordable bills.
• Customers' MyAccount portals provide incorrect energy usage data and inaccurate rate information. Customers have reported difficulty finding a remedy to these issues when working with Xcel customer service.
• Customers have had difficulty learning about and signing up for different rate options, such as the lower rate for customers with electric heat. One customer reported receiving incorrect information about the electric space heating rate from Xcel's website and a customer service agent, and another reported having to call dozens of times before being enrolled.

Share your experience

We are thankful to the customers who’ve shared their experiences with CUB or directly with the PUC via public comments. Sharing your experience in your own words will help us push to resolve the underlying issues that are creating difficulties for customers. 

You can submit a comment by emailing consumer.puc@state.mn.us and including Docket #25-341 in the subject line. You can also use the PUC’s online comment form. Please know that any identifying information included in your comment will become part of the public record.*

If you’re not sure whether your experience fits into the scope of the PUC’s investigation, we still want to hear from you. Reach out to us by filling out our contact form or setting up an Energy Bill Consultation to discuss your experience, how to tell your story, and what actions you can take to remedy the situation.

If you represent a business, organization, or other entity and are interested in filling a public comment on this matter, contact CUB’s Executive Director, Annie Levenson-Falk, at annielf@cubminnesota.org.

*If you aren’t comfortable submitting a comment that will become a part of the public record, we still want to hear from you about your experience with Xcel. Please email CUB at contact@cubminnesota.org.