Homeowners would pay an extra $3.97 on an average monthly gas bill under an agreement with CenterPoint Energy, less than half the increase originally sought by the company.
Houston-based CenterPoint announced Monday evening it struck a deal with consumer advocates and labor groups to limit rate hikes to 5.2% for residential customers and between 6-12% for commercial customers.
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has the final say on CenterPoint’s rates and is expected to weigh in next year.
The five member board has often approved settlements like the one signed between CenterPoint, Attorney General Keith Ellison, Gov. Tim Walz’s administration, a nonprofit consumer advocate organization, two trade unions and a consortium of suburban cities from the Twin Cities metro.
“Any increase in energy cost is difficult for many people, I mean there’s no question about that,” said Annie Levenson-Falk, executive director at the Citizens Utility Board of Minnesota. “But at the same time, we understand that costs go up for utilities too. We can’t exactly celebrate any rate increase but we think this settlement is a reasonable middle ground.”
CenterPoint initially wanted a two-year, 10.2% increase in revenue averaged across all of its customers, saying last November that it needed the money to improve the safety and reliability of its gas system, and to comply with a state law that allows gas utilities to pursue innovative technology that cuts carbon emissions.
The proposal was met with skepticism by groups like the Citizens Utility Board, which said the rate hike would come on top of other recent increases.
Wesley Lund of Hastings was one of many Minnesotans to write the PUC in opposition to higher prices. “No doubt you are aware that rate hikes of any nature have a greater impact on retirees and poorer residents in Minnesota,” Lund wrote in late September. “While CenterPoint also experiences rising costs, they do not need to be a source of increased costs for many in our state.”
