Clifford H. from Duluth here. Working on a Minnesota Power Large General Service analysis and I'm seeing multiple riders that aren't clearly explained in the main tariff document. There's a "Resource Adjustment" rider, "Renewable Resource Rider," and something called "Border State Wind Rider" that I can't find detailed calculations for. Has anyone worked with Minnesota Power recently and know where to find the actual rider rates? Their website tariff section seems incomplete.
Minnesota Power Schedule LGS riders - what am I missing?
Keith R. from Spokane here. I haven't worked with Minnesota Power specifically, but I've found that many utilities publish their rider details in separate documents or in PUC docket filings rather than the main tariff book. Try searching the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission website for recent dockets involving Minnesota Power. The Resource Adjustment sounds like it could be similar to what we see out west - basically a mechanism to recover stranded costs or infrastructure investments.
Dolores P. from Pierre, SD. We're right next door and deal with similar utility structures. That Border State Wind Rider sounds like it might be related to wind energy purchases from projects that span state lines. Minnesota has aggressive renewable energy standards so they probably have several mechanisms to recover those costs. Check if there's a separate "Rider Schedule" document on their website or contact their commercial rates department directly.
Randy Dawson here. Clifford, I did some digging in the Minnesota PUC database and found docket 15-817 which has the current rider details for Minnesota Power. The Resource Adjustment Rider is currently at $0.00891 per kWh, the Renewable Resource Rider is $0.00234 per kWh, and the Border State Wind Rider varies monthly but was $0.00156 per kWh as of December. These are all additive to your base energy charges. The docket also shows these riders are adjusted annually based on true-ups from the previous year. Minnesota Power is required to post current rider rates on their website but sometimes they bury them in the "regulatory" section rather than with the main tariffs.
Alice M. from Rochester, NY jumping in. We have similar renewable riders here with NYSEG and RG&E. One thing I learned is that these environmental and renewable riders often have different effective dates than the main tariff - some change monthly, others quarterly, some annually. Always check the "effective through" dates because using outdated rider rates can throw off your calculations significantly. Also, some riders have different applications - some apply to all kWh, others only to kWh above a baseline amount.
Randy, you're a lifesaver! Found docket 15-817 and it has everything I need. Those rider rates you listed match what I'm seeing for January. Alice, good point on the varying effective dates - the Border State Wind Rider does change monthly while the others are annual. This explains why my client's bills seemed inconsistent month to month. With all riders included, this customer is looking at about $0.087 per kWh all-in for energy charges before demand costs. Thanks everyone for the guidance!
Brenda W. from Glendale, AZ here. Just wanted to add that Arizona Public Service has a similar issue where riders are scattered across different documents. I've started keeping a spreadsheet with all the rider rates and their update frequencies for each utility I work with regularly. Saves a lot of time on future analyses. Might be worth creating something similar for Minnesota utilities if you work up there often Clifford.