Request Filed to Adjust Minnesota Natural Gas Rates

Approval Process and Interim Rates

If our rate stabilization plan is not approved, the Public Utilities Commission will likely make a decision on the rate case in early 2023.

The Minnesota Commerce Department, the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, public interest groups and customers have the opportunity to review and comment on our rate case proposal. Public hearings will be held in 2022 to provide customers and others the opportunity to comment on the rate request, followed by formal hearings at the Public Utilities Commission.

While the rate case is pending, the Commission will set interim (temporary) rates, which would take effect on Jan. 1, 2022, and remain in place until a final decision is made. The requested interim rate increase is about 5.1% more than the current rate.

If the final approved rates are lower than the interim rates, we would refund customers the difference, including interest. If the final approved rates are higher than the interim rates, customers would not be charged the difference.

Your Gas Dollar

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Your bill contains three basic parts: Basic Charge, Delivery Charge and Cost of Gas. The Basic Charge and Delivery Charge recover the cost of providing utility distribution service, including operations, maintenance, taxes and other expenses. These two charges make up about half of a typical bill and would be affected by the rate adjustment.

The proposed rate adjustment does not affect the Cost of Gas charge, which makes up the other half of a typical bill. The wholesale price of natural gas changes monthly, depending on market conditions. This price is passed on directly to customers with no mark-up, and CenterPoint Energy does not profit from the sale of the natural gas.

Impact on Customers' Bills

The table below shows an example comparing, for each customer type, the monthly bill impact of current rates, proposed interim rates, proposed rates in the rate case and proposed rates in the rate stabilization plan.

*Figures above are rounded (to the nearest whole number).

Proposed Changes in Basic Charge and Delivery Charge

Customers are billed for natural gas delivery service in two ways. The first way is a monthly Basic Charge, which pays for a portion of fixed costs that do not change with the amount of natural gas used. The second way is the Delivery Charge, a per therm charge which pays for the costs not recovered in the Basic Charge. The total Delivery Charge amount changes each month based on the amount of natural gas used.

In this rate case, CenterPoint Energy is asking to increase the Basic Charge and the Delivery Charge for most of its customers. We propose to increase the residential Basic Charge from $9.50 to $11.00 per month and the Delivery Charge from $0.24452 per therm to $0.27884 per therm.

Under the rate stabilization plan, the Basic Charge would not change. The Delivery Charge would change from $0.24452 per therm to $0.28030 per therm.

The table below shows an example comparing, for each customer type, the monthly Basic Charge and Delivery Charge under current rates, the rate case and the rate stabilization plan.

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 Rate Case Documents 

* Select 23 in the year field, type 173 in the number field. Select Search and the list of documents filed with the PUC will appear on the next page. ​​​​