Xcel's Gas Rate Increase

Xcel Energy is back at the PUC seeking to raise gas rates for the third time in six years. If Xcel’s request is approved as is, the typical residential customer’s bill would go up by $7 a month, or $85 a year.

Many Minnesotans already cannot afford their utilities. Across 2024 and 2025, over 181,000 residential households were disconnected from utility service, including nearly 60,000 natural gas customers. As of February 2026, more than $145 million in gas and electric utility bills were unpaid across Minnesota.

Any rate increase will be difficult for many Minnesotans – and that doesn’t account for any potential increase to the price of gas, which is passed through directly to customers.

While households struggle with rising costs, utility companies keep earning record-high profits. Xcel Energy, Inc. reported $2.02 billion in earnings for 2025, Xcel’s stock price hit an all-time record high in February 2026; and Xcel paid its CEO a $3 million bonus for 2025—more than double the bonus paid to him in 2024.

When utilities request to increase costs for customers, those rates must be approved by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. If you're concerned about Xcel's request to increase rates for natural gas service, submit a comment in Docket 25-356 today.

*Not sure if Xcel is your gas provider? Take a look at this document to see if your community is listed.

How to Submit a Comment

Xcel's Rate Increase by the Numbers

$63m

Amount Xcel wishes to increase gas rates by over the next two years

$85/yr

Amount the typical residential gas bill would increase

$2.02b

Xcel Energy, Inc. net earnings reported in 2025, up from $1.04b in 2024

The Rate Case Process

When an investor-owned utility, like Xcel, wants to increase rates, it needs approval from its regulator: the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC). Here’s an outline of the procedure in this case. The PUC also has a helpful explainer on their website.

September 26, 2025: Xcel filed a formal request to increase rates with the PUC, initiating a “rate case” proceeding. This proceeding is overseen by an administrative law judge. Parties like CUB formally intervene, giving them the opportunity to submit expert witness testimony and legal briefs. Members of the public can also submit comments expressing their opinions.

April 27 – May 6, 2026: Public hearings will be held, providing an opportunity for members of the public to voice their opinion on the requested increase. Hearing dates and more information here.

May 19, 2026: Deadline to submit written public comments.

September 1, 2026: Administrative law judge issues their findings and recommendation to the PUC.

November 2026: PUC holds a hearing to make a final determination on the requested increase. The PUC is expected to issue an order by November 30, 2026.

What are interim rates?

You may have noticed an “interim” charge on your Xcel gas bill recently. Under state law, utilities are permitted to raise rates on an interim, or temporary, basis while their rate case is being reviewed by the PUC. In 2025, the PUC approved an interim gas rate increase for Xcel of 6.8%, or $51.47 million. The typical residential customer saw their bill go up a little more than $6 a month beginning in January 2026.

This interim charge is applied to the “baserate” portion of your bill, which includes basic service charges, delivery charges, and demand charges. The interim rate charge is listed on Xcel electric bills as "Interim Rate Adj."

The interim rate will remain in effect until Xcel's request to increase rates is decided. If the final rate increase approved by the PUC is lower than the interim rate increase, then Xcel must refund the difference to customers, with interest.

Why does Xcel want to increase gas rates?

Infrastructure

At the very beginning of its request, Xcel makes clear that investments in infrastructure – both old and new – are a key driver of the proposed change in rates.

For years CUB has been sounding the alarm on increased investment in gas infrastructure. Beyond just paying for the cost of gas used each month, a large portion of customers’ bills goes toward paying the fixed costs of the gas system (in essence, the physical stuff gas utilities build and pipes they put in the ground). These costs are paid by customers over many years, so investments made today will still be recovered through customers’ bills decades down the road. Minnesota needs to take a hard look at requests to increase gas rates and make sure that proposed investments are as cost-effective as possible.

Return on Equity

Like in its electric rate case, Xcel is seeking to increase its authorized return on equity (ROE), this time to an astounding 10.65%, up from its currently approved ROE of 9.6%. If approved, a 10.65% ROE would be, by far, the highest ROE authorized for a Minnesota utility in over a decade. A higher ROE means collecting more money from Minnesotans to cover the company’s cost of capital and provide a return to shareholders. Utility ROEs are already far too high. Adopting Xcel’s recommendation would cost ratepayers an additional $11.3 million each year, and would only serve to further increase corporate profits. CUB’s expert witness instead recommends lowering ROE to 9.0 percent, which would save customers $6.4 million each year.

What is CUB asking for?

More info coming soon.

What makes an effective comment?

The PUC has final say on how much Xcel can increase its rates for electric service, and you can tell them what you think. To do so, submit a comment to the PUC online or by sending an email to consumer.puc@state.mn.us. Make sure to reference Docket 25-356 so your submission can be considered. Your comment—including your name, email address, and any other information you share—will become a part of the public record. Below are some tips for making a strong, effective public comment.

Explain why this matters to you.

Are you a customer of Xcel? Are you a business owner in the area, or do you depend on the cities and businesses that are? Share why this issue is relevant to you.

Be specific.

Think about how this rate increase could impact you. Provide examples that are specific to your experience to help the PUC understand how rate increases affect customers.

Be yourself.

You do not need to have special training or understand every detail of the rate case to write an effective comment. Public comments life up the concerns and perspectives of everyday Minnesotans.

More about Xcel's requested rate increase

A look into Minnesotans’ rising gas bills

In 2024, the typical Minnesota residential gas customer used 23% less gas than five years earlier, yet total bills went up 32% over the same period. That’s the conclusion of a new analysis from the Future of Heat Initiative (FOHI). The analysis also explains a major reason why: utilities’ spending on pipes and the distribution system is driving the increase.

Xcel 2025 Earnings Report reveals increasing profits amidst ongoing MN rate case

On February 5, 2026, Xcel released its annual earnings report for 2025. In it, the company reported $2.24 billion in annual profits—or $3.80 in earnings per share (EPS) of outstanding Xcel stock— for 2025. By comparison, Xcel earned $1.97 billion, or $3.50 per share, in 2024.

The state of energy affordability in Minnesota

Energy costs, too, have been making headlines across the country. Here in Minnesota, we are fortunate that both our average electric rates and average monthly bills are lower than most of the country. However, that good news hides a deeper problem: data reported by our state’s utilities show that home energy service is unaffordable for a significant portion of Minnesotans.