ST. PAUL, Minn. – Major regulated utilities overcharged Minnesota customers $380 million in a self-serving pre-emptory rate changes during the Texas power crisis in February, Attorney General Keith Ellison charged. Ellison called on the state Public Utilities Commission to order refunds. Accused were:
> Centerpoint Energy.
> Great Plains Natural Gas.
> Xcel Energy.
Ellison acknowledged that some hikes were warranted but that the $800 million total was beyond the pale. He recommended a 53% refund. “Utility companies could have and should have taken measures that would have lessened the cost to consumers overall,” Ellison said. The companies, he said, could have reached out to high-level consumers to reduce gas or shift to reasonable lock-down prices before Storm Uri struck Texas and drew on the Midwest’s whole electrical grid. The utilities didn’t cause the storm or the Texas outage, but neither did they didn’t react as they should have to protect their customers, Ellison said.