State regulators are investigating the affordability of electricity and natural gas rates, and they’re asking Minnesotans to share how those costs have affected them.

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission has opened an investigation into the affordability of electric and natural gas utilities whose rates are regulated by the state.

The commission has scheduled the first of three informational sessions for 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. It says a panel discussion will cover how customers experience utility costs and how affordability should be defined and measured.

“We want to hear varying perspectives and get input from local and national experts about what affordability means to them and what they believe could make a difference,” said Katie Sieben, chair of the commission, in a news release.

The Public Utilities Commission routinely considers rates and costs when deciding on utility rates and nearly every other matter that comes before it.

However, this investigation is unique, one advocate says, because it’s a broader look at how Minnesota is doing when it comes to energy affordability and what should be done about it.

Since the pandemic, the number of people struggling to pay their electric bills has risen significantly, and it hasn’t improved much since then, said Annie Levenson-Falk, executive director of the Citizens Utility Board of Minnesota, which represents utility customers.

"You add on the pressures of inflation and the other economic pressures that people are facing these days, and I think that helps explain why we're hearing so much about affordability, including energy affordability,” she said.

The number of households whose utilities have been disconnected has hit record levels in recent years. The amount Minnesotans owe on unpaid utility bills also has spiked, Levenson-Falk said. Residential customers owe about twice the amount they did prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, she said.

“The cause of that is primarily people falling farther and farther behind,” Levenson-Falk said. “So people who are having trouble paying their bills are in a much deeper hole than they were a few years back."

Double whammy of hot summer and rate increases

There are several factors driving higher utility bills. This summer was one of the warmest in Minnesota’s history, which meant many people used the air conditioner more frequently and for longer durations.

However, it’s not just the weather. Several utilities, including Minnesota’s largest, Xcel Energy, have sought rate increases in recent years, citing the cost of modernizing the electric grid and gas infrastructure. Supply chain issues and tariffs have raised the costs of those upgrades.

Those rate increase requests have generated an unprecedented number of public comments. And some consumer advocacy groups pushed back on the commission’s decision to increase Xcel’s return on equity, the rate of profit Xcel is allowed to collect from its electric customers’ bills.

The Public Utilities Commission is accepting public comments until Oct. 16. Following the investigation, it will issue a report recommending possible actions to make gas and electric costs more affordable.

“We need to look at the full range of options — including actions that utilities, the governor, the Legislature and the federal government — could take to keep bills as low as possible,” Sieben stated.

Collected from Minnesota Public Radio News. View original source here.