South Dakota Electric Rate Case
June 30, 2009
To meet the future energy needs of its growing customer base, Xcel Energy filed an application with the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission (SDPUC) on June 30 for an increase in base electric rates. The requested increase is needed to continue to maintain safe and reliable service for its customers and support continued investments in cleaner sources of energy.
“Strong customer growth and prudent cost management have allowed us to avoid a base rate increase for our customers for the past 17 years,” said Jim Wilcox, manager of Government and Regulatory Affairs for Xcel Energy in South Dakota. “Since then, we have made significant investments in our electric system to meet the growth in eastern South Dakota. Our requested increase is needed to recover these costs and allow us to continue to provide safe and reliable service.”
Xcel Energy is requesting to increase retail electric revenues by $18.6 million, which includes approximately $3 million that is currently being recovered through another portion of customer bills. The net increase in retail rates is approximately 10.65 percent.
A typical residential electric customer using 750 kWh per month would see a net increase of 12.4 percent, or $8.55 per month. Commercial and industrial customers will see increases of approximately 10-14 percent, depending on their type of service and usage patterns. The actual amount of any rate adjustments will be determined by the SDPUC and such amounts could be different than what is requested.
From 1992-2008, the number of electric customers that Xcel Energy serves in eastern South Dakota increased by 44 percent, and overall electric use grew by 78 percent.
“In the coming years, we will continue to make significant investments to strengthen our electric system and add cleaner sources of energy. It is important that we continue to make these investments so that the electric system is able to provide the foundation needed to support economic recovery,” Wilcox said. “These efforts, combined with other important company initiatives, will allow us to meet the energy needs of customers now and in the future.”
Since 1992, Xcel Energy has invested more than $6.2 billion in new infrastructure to generate and transmit electricity to its customers system-wide, with South Dakota’s portion being $380 million. Of these investments, almost $250 million were made directly in South Dakota for new distribution equipment and in the Angus Anson Power Plant east of Sioux Falls. Xcel Energy is also investing in cleaner sources of energy, including significant upgrades to existing fossil fuel and nuclear power plants and adding transmission lines to support access to wind resources. Increasing costs, such as inputs to electricity production, wages and benefits, and nuclear generation operations, also contribute to the need for a rate increase at this time.
Read filing documents
Rate Case Fact Sheet and Q&A