Xcel gas rate increase trimmed thanks to AARP North Dakota

Derek R. Audette

On Oct. 27, 2022 the North Dakota Public Service Commission (PSC) approved the final rates for the 2021 Xcel Energy Natural Gas rate increase (PU-21-381). The PSC’s decision means North Dakotans will see something of a reprieve from Xcel Energy’s original proposed residential natural gas rate hike.

Over the last year, hundreds of North Dakotans made their voices heard. With their support, AARP ND fought back against an Xcel natural gas rate increase request and made significant progress advocating for fair rates for consumers across the state. AARP saved rate payers millions when the original request of $7.059 million was lowered to the approved $5.074 million.

In May of 2022, AARP submitted a formal intervention – objecting to an increase to the already high monthly fixed customer charge, an exorbitant return on equity, and the shift of costs to residential gas consumers.

The original proposal by Xcel Energy would have raised the rates for the approximately 60,000 residential customers by nearly 11 percent, while other customer classes would have seen smaller increases. AARP ND fought for a compromise in which the increase would be shared amongst the customer classes more fairly, creating a smaller usage-based increase for residential customers. The final outcome reduced the increase to 8.75 percent for residential customers.

Xcel Energy also proposed collecting the increase by raising its fixed charge for residential customers. They proposed raising it from $18.48 per customer to more than $24 per customer. The fixed rate is the cost customers pay before using any amount of natural gas. The final outcome sets the fixed rate charge at $22.25.

 “Many of our 83,000 members in North Dakota, including those who are in Xcel’s service territory live on fixed incomes and others are struggling at this time. To support our members, we want to make sure utility rates are affordable and fair,” said Josh Askvig, AARP ND State Director.

“Increases like this cause true hardship to people on fixed incomes, and while we didn’t get the outcome we’d proposed, we made an impact on the overall increase savings residential customers money. We also made progress on our fight against placing the full increase in the residential fixed charge which is unfair to consumers who have no control over those costs.”

AARP North Dakota is the only organization in North Dakota representing the voice of the residential consumer in rate increase cases before the Public Service Commission. Learn more at AARP.org/AdvocacyND.