Extreme heat? Your electric service is protected
This summer, if the heat becomes dangerous, utility customers are protected from losing their electricity. Minnesota's Hot Weather Rule protects residential utility customers from electric service shut-offs on any day the National Weather Service has declared an excessive heat watch, heat advisory, or excessive heat warning – and those declarations are made by county, so protections apply where you live.
For more information, contact your natural gas, electric, municipal utility, or electric cooperative — or reach the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission's Consumer Affairs Office: consumer.puc@state.mn.us or 1-800-657-3782.
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Commission calendar and upcoming events
The information below is subject to change. Current information and more details are available on the PUC’s calendar.
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June 4
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10 AM
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Agenda meeting
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Minnesota Power’s 2026 rate adjustment mechanism under its Rider for Transmission Cost Recovery (Docket 25-433)
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Minnesota Power’s 2025-2039 Integrated Resource Plan, LPI’s motion to compel (Docket 25-127)
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Xcel Energy’s generator projects under MISO ERAS 2, 300 MW Nobles Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) and 300 MW Sherco South BESS (Docket 24-67)
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Minnesota Power and American Transmission Company application for a Certificate of Need and Route Permit for the Iron Range - St. Louis County - Arrowhead 345 kV Transmission Project (Dockets 25-111, -112)
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Evaluation of changes to natural gas utility regulatory and policy structures to meet state greenhouse gas reduction goals (Docket 21-565)
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June 4
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10 AM
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Public meeting: Bison to Alexandria Second Circuit 345 kV Transmission Line in Clay, Wilkin, Otter Tail, Grant, and Douglas counties, certificate of need and route permit amendment (Alexandria)
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June 4
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6 PM
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Public hearing: Otter Tail Power Co. for Authority to Increase Rates for Electric Service in Minnesota (Virtual)
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June 4
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6 PM
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Public meeting: Bison to Alexandria Second Circuit 345 kV Transmission Line in Clay, Wilkin, Otter Tail, Grant, and Douglas counties, certificate of need and route permit amendment (Virtual)
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June 10
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12 PM and 6 PM
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Public hearings: Lemon Hill Solar Project in Olmsted County, site permit (Rochester)
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June 11
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10 AM
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Agenda meeting
- Xcel Energy’s electric rate case oral argument (Docket 24-320)
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June 11
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6 PM
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Public hearing: Lemon Hill Solar Project in Olmsted County, site permit (Virtual)
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June 15
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5:30 PM
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Public meeting: North Rochester to Skyway High Voltage Transmission Line Project in Goodhue County, route permit (Zumbrota)
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June 16
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6 PM
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Public meeting: North Rochester to Skyway High Voltage Transmission Line Project in Goodhue County, route permit (Virtual)
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June 18
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10 AM
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Agenda meeting
- Xcel Energy’s electric rate case deliberation (Docket 24-320)
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June 19
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Closed
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Holiday – offices closed
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June 23
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10 AM
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Planning meeting: Implementation of 216I (Energy Infrastructure Permitting)
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June 25
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10 AM
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Agenda meeting
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Commission decisions
May 7
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The Commission approved Xcel Energy’s first Proactive Upgrade Proposal, which will result in the construction of new distribution equipment in the Phillips neighborhood of South Minneapolis. Proactive Upgrade Proposals allow Xcel Energy to anticipate load and generation growth ahead of when it will occur to ensure grid upgrades are made in a timely manner and increase grid reliability. (Docket 25-142)
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The Commission ordered Xcel Energy to refund $40.6 million, plus interest, to Minnesota ratepayers after determining that the 2023 Prairie Island Nuclear Plant outage resulted from imprudent actions by the company. A 103-day outage at the plant resulted when contractors mistakenly severed direct current control cables in October of 2023. The mistake forced both Prairie Island units offline, requiring Xcel to purchase replacement energy on the market to meet customer demand. (Docket 22-179) Press release.
May 15
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The Commission approved a comprehensive set of safeguards for how Xcel Energy may serve any future very large electricity customers, as required by the Minnesota Legislature. The actions help protect Minnesota households and businesses as the state considers potential high‑demand users, including new data centers and industrial facilities. (Docket 25-289) Press release.
May 21
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The Commission approved the site permit for Xcel Energy’s Sherco South & West Battery Energy Storage Project, an up to 600 MW facility that will play a central role in Minnesota’s shift toward a cleaner and more reliable electric system. (Docket 25-319) Press release.
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The Commission found that it does not have jurisdiction over the distributed energy resources customer complaint against Renville-Sibley Co-op Power related to Minnesota Statute §216B.164 subd. 11 and dismissed the complaint. (Docket 26-113)
May 28
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The Commission approved Xcel Energy’s request to certify a 1 MW / 2MWh trailer-mounted mobile battery system to serve as a temporary bridge for new or expanding customer loads until permanent distribution infrastructure can be completed. The Commission also approved Xcel’s request to adopt a streamlined certification framework for innovative grid modernization tools. (Docket 25-142)
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The Commission ordered an addendum to the environmental assessment for the two-mile 115 kV transmission line from Northwest Maple Grove to the existing Elm Creek substation. The addendum will examine an alternative route for the proposed project. The Commission also ordered that the public hearing be presided over by an Administrative Law Judge from the Court of Administrative Hearings. (Docket 24-427)
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The Commission accepted the Biennial Transmission Projects Report. The report highlights projects intended to address congestion, meet future energy demands, and address aging energy infrastructure throughout the state. (Docket 25-99)
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The Commission approved a set of proposals to make the state’s electric grid more efficient, reduce congestion costs, and help more renewable energy reach homes and businesses. The decision follows the Commission’s review of the 2025 Grid Enhancing Technologies (GETs) Report, filed by Minnesota’s major transmission owners as required under a 2024 state law. In addition to directing transmission owners to move forward with the full portfolio of proposed GETs projects, the Commission will also require transmission owners to continuously evaluate cost-effective congestion mitigation opportunities and submit a GETs Report every two years as part of the Biennial Transmission Projects Report. (Docket 25-99) Press release.
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The Commission approved issuing a route permit to Big Bend Wind and Great River Energy for the 161 kV high voltage transmission line project and associated facilities. The route permit includes routing flexibility along 220th Street near the Cedar Lutheran Cemetery. The permit includes a special condition requiring vegetation screening that would minimize aesthetic impacts of the transmission line on individuals visiting the cemetery. (Docket 25-389)
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A petition to compel the Commission to begin rulemaking for the 216I legislation came before the Commission arguing that when the 216E law was repealed, so too were the corresponding rules, and that the Commission needs to create rules before permitting any new projects. The Commission denied the petition on the basis that many rules under 216E were codified into the new 216I law, and therefore it would be unnecessary to go through the rulemaking process when the framework already exists under the new legislation. (Docket 26-172)
Recaps of Commission public meetings and hearings
Planning meetings
Utility Wildfire Risk Reduction and Lessons Learned: On May 18, the Commission held a planning meeting convening experts on utility wildfire mitigation, planning, and response. Presenters included PUC staff; Dr. Andre Coleman, Chief Scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory presenting on current best practices on wildfire risk reduction for electric transmission and distribution systems; and presentations from Minnesota Power and Xcel Energy on lessons learned from recent wildfire experience. Meeting materials and a recording are available on our website.
2026 Minnesota Clean Energy Factsheet and Grid Catalyst: On May 27, the Commission held a planning meeting with Clean Energy Economy Minnesota (CEEM) on their 2026 Minnesota Clean Energy Factsheet and Grid Catalyst who will share insights on their GridReady program. Meeting materials and a recording are available on our website.
Rate case hearing
Xcel Energy gas rate case: On April 27-May 6, the Administrative Law Judge held in-person and virtual public hearings and took public comment on Xcel Energy's authority to increase rates for natural gas service in Minnesota.
Notable new dockets or filings
This is not a comprehensive summary of filings.
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Docket
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Filing or Docket Summary
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25-356
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Xcel Gas Rate Case: Xcel filed a comprehensive, non-unanimous settlement agreement between the Company, Department, CUB, and SRA (LIUNA supports). Settlement includes: overall WACC for the Company of 7.21%, resulting in an $11.8 million reduction to the 2026 test year revenue requirement; net incremental gross general revenues increase of $37.8 million or 4.88 percent, compared to the $63.4 million (8.2%) net increase in gross revenues requested in the Company’s Application; prepaid pension assets removed pending decision in Xcel Electric Rate Case (21-630), and reductions on specific financial issues reducing the revenue requirement; Company changes to the next CCOS; no residential and small commercial customer charge increases but other customer classes’ monthly charge will increase as proposed by Company; gas IRP information sharing; no change to disconnection threshold; and more.
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26-90
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Otter Tail Power filed its 2027-2041 IRP with a preferred plan to: 1) add 50 MW of gas generation (firm capacity) in 2031/32, 2) 50 MW wind in 2035, 3) 50 MW wind in 2040, 4) maintain projects from 2021 IRP, 5) remove Astoria fuel storage due to change of circumstance; 6) no action on Big Stone until future IRP. OTP shows an ~0.16% compound avg annual load growth rate – compared to 2021 IRP it’s ~6% higher driven by existing industrial customer usage.
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26-211
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Otter Tail Power filed a petition for a new class for very large customers generally and a rate schedule for data center loads. OTP is requesting that the Commission approve the creation of a new “very large customer” rate class (for loads ≥25 MW) and the associated tariff changes (and intends to file a tariff in ND and SD as well), including two new rate schedules: Large General Service – Tier II – Time of Day for customers ≥25 MW and Large General Service – Tier III – High Power Compute (HPC) for very large data center type loads ≥75 MW. The petition asks the Commission to authorize renumbering and amending existing tariffs, adopt the new HPC cost isolation and cost recovery structure that assigns all incremental generation, transmission, and service costs directly to the HPC customer, and approve related protections such as collateral requirements, exit fees, and a system benefit credit for existing customers. OTP also requests that these new and amended rate schedules become effective January 1, 2027 (or the first month after approval) and asks the Commission to issue its approval by written order without a public hearing. (Summary created with Copilot)
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25-369
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Upper Sioux Community filed a request to extend the comment period in this docket until 30 days after the ALJ Report is filed in the Formal Complaint (Docket No. 25-219) or “resolution of that case” to avoid duplication of efforts and administrative burden. Staff Note: ALJ report is due in mid-June. Staff suspended the comment period. On the same day as the Notice of Suspended Comments, MN Valley filed comments agreeing with the ALJ recommendation to dismiss the docket.
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26-126
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Minnesota Power Large Power Tariff: MP requested to withdraw the petition and re-file “by mid-summer.” OAG-RUD, CUB, and CURE jointly filed opposition to the request to withdraw and proposed conditions related to the Google Hermantown ESA and a July 15 deadline for the new tariff petition.
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12-383, 02-2034
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Xcel filed its 2025 Quality of Service Plan noting: the Company did not meet the customer complaint metric and expects to incur a $1m underperformance payment which they propose to use to “extend $500 bill credits to 2,000 customers with the highest arrears as of the Commission’s Order…and meeting other criteria indicating a risk of disconnection.” The Company offers an alternative of spending 50% on maintenance and repair of distribution system per tariff language.
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