Published September 8, 2021 It will be a busy fall at the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. This blog post provides a brief overview of the policy and regulatory work CUB expects to be involved in over the next several months. There are already numerous complex dockets underway before the Commission, including several unique dockets arising…
Published August 3, 2021 After several years of study and analysis, Minnesota Power has received approval to transition residential customers to a new electric rate called a time-of-day (TOD) rate. The cost per kWh to customers would vary based on the time of day the energy is consumed. This transition will not happen immediately but instead…
July 15, 2021 Star Tribune Brooks Johnson DULUTH – Minnesota Power is poised to be the first utility in the state to fully switch to “time of day” electricity rates for residential customers, meaning power is more expensive during certain hours and discounted when it is more readily available. The move is prompted by an…
March 18, 2021 MinnPost Walker Orenstein The severe cold in the southern U.S. last month will result in higher natural gas bills for a huge swath of Minnesotans. In response, a pair of Minnesota lawmakers have introduced a bill at the Legislature to help low-income people shoulder the extra costs. The new measure would distribute…
Published December 22, 2020 Last Thursday, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) approved an arrangement that will avoid a rate increase for Xcel Energy’s residential customers in 2021. This fall, Xcel filed a “rate case” — a request to increase their base rates by 20 percent — with the PUC. At the time of filing,…
Published December 7, 2020 This month, CUB and Minnesota Power released the findings of joint research evaluating how real customers’ electricity bills would change under four new rate designs that are under consideration. Over the past several years, Minnesota Power (“MP”) has engaged in a pilot program, stakeholder discussions, and regulatory processes to assess whether…
Published November 3, 2020 Xcel Energy has filed a request with the state Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to increase electric rates in Minnesota. Xcel is requesting a 20 percent increase in total revenues over three years. Residential customers would see a 14 percent increase in the first year, 1.5 percent in the second year, and…
Published June 9, 2020 Last Thursday, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) unanimously approved a resolution to Minnesota Power’s rate increase request that will result in immediate refunds for customers. The utility, which provides power to Duluth and parts of northeast, north-central, and central Minnesota, had originally requested a large rate increase, including a 15%…
April 23, 2020 Duluth News Tribune Jimmy Lovrien If approved by regulators, Minnesota Power’s Jan. 1, 2020, rate increase will decrease from 5.8% to 4.1%, and the difference will be refunded to customers. Minnesota Power is aiming to lower its proposed rate hike and refund the difference to customers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Duluth-based…
Published April 23, 2020 Today, Minnesota Power filed a request to immediately reduce customer bills, to soon refund approximately $12 million to customers, and to withdraw its pending request for a rate increase. The coronavirus pandemic has drastically changed the circumstances surrounding Minnesota Power’s earlier rate increase request. In November, Minnesota Power filed a request…
