Minnesota Power Reaches Electric Rate Settlement With State Agencies and Large Power Customers
04 May 2024 - 1:20AM
Business Wire
Minnesota Power, a utility division of ALLETE Inc. (NYSE: ALE),
has reached a settlement agreement on its 2024 electric rate
proposal with the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Minnesota
Attorney General’s Office and Large Power Intervenors.
If approved by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC),
the agreement would set final rate increases of about 4.9% for
residential and small business customers and about 4.4% for
industrial and large commercial customers. It also would set
Minnesota Power’s return on equity at 9.78% and allow cost recovery
outside a rate case for certain environmental costs and capacity
purchases.
The MPUC approved an interim rate increase of 8.6%, or about $8
per month for the average residential customer over 2023 rates,
that went into effect January 1, 2024. The difference between the
interim rate and final rate, which is about a $5 per month increase
for the average residential customer over 2023 rates, will be
refunded to customers, with interest, through bill credits after
the final rates are approved.
“I’m grateful for the hard work on this by all of the parties,
who agreed that this settlement is the right path forward for
everyone,” said ALLETE Chair, President and CEO Bethany Owen. “This
agreement recognizes the importance of considering the needs of our
customers and communities. Taken as a whole, it results in a lower
rate increase for customers than we originally requested while also
allowing Minnesota Power to make the investments and hire the
workforce needed to ensure we can meet the state’s ambitious
climate goals.”
The MPUC will continue its statutory rate review process while
the settlement agreement is in place. An administrative law judge
will hold public hearings on the rate proposals in May, and the
MPUC will consider approval of the agreement’s proposed rate
increases later in 2024. More information on the rate proposals is
at https://www.mnpower.com/RateReview.
Minnesota Power filed its rate proposal in November 2023 to
support the goals of its EnergyForward strategy: Transitioning to
new sources of renewable energy, building more resiliency into the
electric grid to continue to ensure year-round reliability,
employing the workforce necessary to achieve a clean-energy
transition, addressing inflation and supply chain issues, and
providing a fair return on investment to attract capital for
continued investments in the clean-energy future.
“We appreciate the willingness of our regulatory agencies and
large power customers to work collaboratively to reach a mutually
beneficial settlement agreement and find common ground for setting
new rates for the electric utility,” said Jennifer Cady, Minnesota
Power vice president of Regulatory and Legislative Affairs. “This
commitment to outreach, collaboration and communication will only
become more important as we continue to execute this historic
clean-energy transition.”
Minnesota Power provides electric service within a
26,000-square-mile area in northeastern Minnesota, supporting
comfort, security and quality of life for 150,000 customers, 14
municipalities and some of the largest industrial customers in the
United States. More information can be found at
www.mnpower.com.
ALLETE, Inc. is an energy company headquartered in Duluth,
Minnesota. In addition to its electric utilities, Minnesota Power
and Superior Water, Light and Power of Wisconsin, ALLETE owns
ALLETE Clean Energy, based in Duluth; BNI Energy in Bismarck, North
Dakota; and New Energy Equity, headquartered in Annapolis,
Maryland; and has an 8% equity interest in the American
Transmission Co. More information about ALLETE is available at
www.allete.com. ALE-CORP
Minnesota Power calculates and reports carbon emissions based on
the GHG Protocol. Details in ALLETE’s Corporate Sustainability
Report.
The statements contained in this release and statements that
ALLETE may make orally in connection with this release that are not
historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Actual results
may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking
statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and
uncertainties and investors are directed to the risks discussed in
documents filed by ALLETE with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240503262933/en/
Amy Rutledge Director - Corporate Communications Minnesota
Power/ALLETE 218-723-7400 arutledge@mnpower.com
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