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Your winter energy savings checklist
Published November 30, 2021 Households might be feeling extra strained this winter season from rising heating costs. Some natural gas customers are also seeing surcharges on their bills from the February 2021 winter storm costs. While these things are largely out of our control, actions you take around your home to weatherproof and use less…
MN Power customers: Blame big industries’ ups and downs for your increasing electric bills
Published December 2, 2021. This article was printed on the opinion pages of the Duluth News Tribune on December 2, 2021. The recent editorial “Our View: Guess we could have left the lights on all these years” asks whether residential energy conservation and clean energy are to blame for this rate increase. The answer –…
CUB joins Xcel proposal seeking to protect renters
Published November 24, 2021 In recent months, CUB has been hearing from consumers (and other consumer advocates) about a new problem affecting some Minnesota renters. Some landlords of multi-unit residences are taking over their tenants’ utility accounts by putting the accounts in the landlord’s name, while continuing to pass utility costs on to the tenants….
Consumers are paying millions of dollars to utility executives
Published November 24, 2021 In 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted a rule requiring public companies to disclose how chief executive officer (CEO) compensation compares to median employee income. When the SEC began requiring companies to publish CEO to employee pay ratios, it provided consumers with a way of being more informed about the…
CenterPoint and Xcel each request gas rate hikes of over 6%, but also offer alternatives
Published November 10, 2021 As they say: when it rains, it pours. On top of already high natural gas prices — and in addition to rate hike filings by Minnesota Power and Xcel’s electricity business — the state’s two largest natural gas utilities have also requested to increase their base rates of providing service. In…