Please join in online today from 9:30am to 12:30pm central for the livestream of the second information session by the Minnesota (MN) Public Utilities Commission (PUC) regarding their electricity and natural gas affordability investigation.
The most pertinent quotes from the third link above are extracted below, along with my comments.
The [PUC] works to ensure Minnesotans receive safe, reliable service at reasonable costs through rigorous regulatory oversight…including electric [and] natural gas. … The [PUC] recognizes an important reality: affordability is not one-size-fits-all. Even when rates are determined to be reasonable under the law, they can still pose a serious financial burden for some households.
As per my PUC energy affordability submission, MN “total customer electricity rates rank dropped 16 spots from #14 in 2001 to #30 in 2026 [with the worst ranking of] #37 in 2021.”
The [PUC] has opened a statewide investigation into the affordability of electric and natural gas service from rate‑regulated utilities. … The investigation will assess the effectiveness of current affordability tools and explore potential regulatory or legislative improvements.
As per my PUC natural gas submission, “the ratio (%) of [average total] electricity to natural gas prices [in $/MMBtu] skyrocketed by 3.5x from 216% in 2005 to 763% in 2025.”
The Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP) will facilitate the process, which includes three Commissioner informational sessions on October 13, November 2, and December 8, 2026, along with opportunities for written public comment.
As per my PUC energy affordability article, “I hope this PUC inquiry is not yet another, to use an Aussie parliamentary term, Dorothy Dixer.” That is a pretense of being a serious inquiry.
Initial topic: How customers view affordability: … will focus on how different customer groups experience utility costs; how affordability should be defined and measured; the main drivers of rising costs; the effectiveness of existing tools; and the trade-offs of potential improvements.
As per my DOC nuclear study submission, the University of Chicago found US “renewables caused not just 11% electricity price increases 7 years later, but also 17% after 12 years.”
Second topic: How costs are added to customer bills: … explores potential changes to how costs reach customer bills that would better control costs while maintaining safe, reliable, and increasingly clean utility service; including changes to interim rates, the fuel clause, return on equity, debt to equity ratios, riders, rate design, or other [PUC] practices.
As per my PUC energy affordability submission, I recommended exploring both:
- A.) exposing franchise monopolies like Xcel to market competition, as was done in Australia; and
- B.) replacing ROR inflation regulation with CPI-X incentive regulation, as was done in Australia.
Please have your written say to the PUC by 4:30pm on November 6, 2026, because as I have demonstrated many times here since June 10, 2026:
- energy affordability is a big problem in Minnesota (see Chart 1 below);
- has been since REO 2001, RES 2007 and CES 2023 (see Chart 2 below); and
- this is driven by too much wind and solar renewables combined with too little nuclear, natural gas and coal reliables (see Chart 3 below).
Chart 1
Chart 2
Chart 3
