Utilities

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Regulators to begin review of NorthWestern Energy’s proposed 16% rate increase

BY: - July 11, 2023

A company that provides electricity to 64,680 South Dakota customers wants to raise its rates by about 16%. South Dakota’s Public Utilities Commission voted Tuesday to give itself six months to study the rate proposal. It would be a jump of $19.14 per month on an average residential customer’s bill, although the increase would affect […]

A sign displays the names of the state's three elected public utilities commissioners outside of their Pierre office in January 2023. (South Dakota Searchlight/Joshua Haiar)

Regulators reduce Xcel’s 18% electric rate hike to 6%

BY: - June 6, 2023

A state regulatory agency is limiting a utility company’s electric rate increase to about 6% after the company requested a nearly 18% rate hike. The change affects 97,500 South Dakota customers. The 18% rate hike has been temporarily in effect for the last six months after an initial deadline passed for the regulatory agency, the […]

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State regulators approve partial rollback of natural gas price increase

BY: - March 28, 2023

MidAmerican Energy’s 6% natural gas rate increase in South Dakota will be rolled back to 5.4%. The over 100,000 South Dakotans who get natural gas from the company can expect the change to take effect in May. The rate change will affect commercial customers as well as residential. MidAmerican proposed the 6% increase last May. […]

A sign displays the names of the state's three elected public utilities commissioners outside of their Pierre office in January 2023. (South Dakota Searchlight/Joshua Haiar)

Some utilities charge customers for donations and events, with regulator approval

BY: - January 25, 2023

Last October, hundreds of politicians and business leaders from all over the country gathered to be wined, dined and guided into eastern South Dakota grasslands for a pheasant hunt with the governor.  “There’s a lot of schmoozing that goes on,” said John Cooper, a former secretary of Game, Fish and Parks who’s attended 15 of […]

Utility employees work on downed power lines after Hurricane Laura passed through the area on Aug. 27, 2020, in Lake Charles, Louisiana. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Affordable, reliable and sustainable: report compares utility performance

BY: - January 19, 2023

A nationwide comparison of electric utility performance by an Illinois consumer advocacy group found that customers in states that are heavily reliant on fuel oil and natural gas, as in the Northeast and South, tend to pay more than those with larger amounts of carbon-free generation, among other findings.  The report by the Illinois-based Citizens […]

Utility companies are spending billions building out transmission and distribution lines around the country, leading some to call for an independent monitor to protect customers.

Xcel raising electric rates 18 percent as state regulators take no action at initial deadline

BY: - December 7, 2022

A company that provides electricity to nearly 100,000 South Dakota customers will raise its rates by about 18 percent next month as an initial deadline passes for a state regulatory agency to act on the increase. Xcel Energy will increase its electricity rates by 17.9 percent, starting Jan. 1. That’s a jump of $19.60 per […]

General Motors Co. announced plans to double revenue by 2030 with new battery-electric vehicles and hopes to surpass leading electric carmaker Tesla with the release of a new $30,000 electric SUV. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Commission tasked with regulating EV charging rates says ‘best left to free market’

BY: - November 16, 2022

The $1.2 trillion infrastructure package passed by Congress last year included a host of clean energy incentives. It also included a requirement that state public utility regulators conduct a hearing to discuss ways to encourage electric vehicle adoption within a year. On Nov. 8, just a few days shy of the deadline, the South Dakota […]