What the power actually costs
Complaints about electric rates and transfers to the city are part of what put the utility question on the ballot. This page compares Luverne's posted residential rates with nearby providers, then shows average prices by customer class from state filings.
The short version
- At 750 kWh a month, Luverne's base charge plus energy charge comes to $120.25 from September through May and $130.00 in June through August, before any power-cost adjustment.
- The same calculation gives $126.08 for a Sioux Valley Energy home in town and $161.08 on its farm and rural rate. St. James, a city the same size with the same wholesale supplier, comes to $90.00.
- Xcel's January 2024 residential tariff sheet gives $91.23 to $104.02 for the same two charges. That is not an Xcel bill: an Xcel bill also carries a fuel charge (about $18.36 at 750 kWh in September 2026), riders, and possibly an interim adjustment. Current complete bill unavailable, so this page does not compare total bills.
- In 2024, Luverne's residential class paid 14.01¢ per kWh on average (revenue divided by kWh), higher than any of the other Minnesota city utilities compared here in 2025.
- The committee says rates rose about 18% over three years; the council adopted a path of about 6% a year for 2024–26. An electric rate study is underway.
Base charge plus energy charge, at three usage levels
The table applies each provider's posted residential monthly charge and per-kWh energy charge to 500, 750, and 1,000 kWh. These are not complete bills. Each row leaves out the adjustments listed with it, and every row leaves out taxes and city fees.
| Provider and rate | 500 kWh | 750 kWh | 1,000 kWh |
|---|---|---|---|
Luverne: Residential, Sep–May $25.00 a month + 12.70¢/kWh. Posted Jan. 2026 (no date printed). Not included: Power-cost adjustment (monthly amounts not published).City of Luverne | $88.50 | $120.25 | $152.00 |
Luverne: Residential, Jun–Aug $25.00 a month + 14.00¢/kWh. Posted Jan. 2026 (no date printed). Not included: Power-cost adjustment (monthly amounts not published).City of Luverne | $95.00 | $130.00 | $165.00 |
Sioux Valley Energy: Residential (in town or subdivision), All year $30.00 a month + 12.81¢/kWh. Feb. 2026. Not included: Wholesale power adjustment, if any is being charged.Sioux Valley Energy | $94.05 | $126.08 | $158.10 |
Sioux Valley Energy: Farm and rural, single-phase, All year $65.00 a month + 12.81¢/kWh. Feb. 2026. Not included: Wholesale power adjustment, if any is being charged.Sioux Valley Energy | $129.05 | $161.08 | $193.10 |
St. James: Residential, All year $22.50 a month + 9.00¢/kWh. Rate sheet dated Jan. 15, 2026. Not included: None listed on the rate sheet.City of St. James | $67.50 | $90.00 | $112.50 |
Xcel Energy: Residential, Jun–Sep $6.00 a month + 13.069¢/kWh. Tariff sheet effective Jan. 1, 2024. Not included: 7.14% interim adjustment, fuel charge, riders, surcharge.Xcel Energy | $71.35 | $104.02 | $136.69 |
Xcel Energy: Residential, Oct–May $6.00 a month + 11.364¢/kWh. Tariff sheet effective Jan. 1, 2024. Not included: 7.14% interim adjustment, fuel charge, riders, surcharge.Xcel Energy | $62.82 | $91.23 | $119.64 |
Each row: one provider's residential rate for one season, base charge plus energy charge only, in dollars per month at the usage shown in the column heading. Not complete bills. Rates as posted in September 2026 (Xcel: latest posted sheet, January 2024). Seasons differ: Luverne's summer rate runs June–August, Xcel's June–September. Sioux Valley's farm and rural rate applies to single-phase members outside towns and subdivisions.
What each row leaves out
- Luverne. A power-cost adjustment can be added when wholesale costs run above a base cost the schedule gives as “$0.0370 per kWh from June through September and $0.0337 per kWh from September through May” (those seasons differ from the energy-charge seasons, and September appears in both). The monthly adjustments actually billed are not published. The schedule prints no effective date; it was posted in January 2026.City of Luverne
- Sioux Valley Energy. Both schedules allow a wholesale power adjustment. Whether one is being charged now was not confirmed.Sioux Valley Energy
- St. James. The residential sheet lists no adjustment clause.City of St. James
- Xcel. The residential sheet used here took effect January 1, 2024. The Public Utilities Commission approved final rates on July 31, 2026; approval is not the same as the date new rates are billed, and we have not located and verified the implemented final tariff. Since January 1, 2025, Xcel has billed an interim increase of 7.14% on the base portion of the bill; whether it still applies was not confirmed, and Xcel says interim charges above the final rates will be refunded as a credit. The riders are published: the September 2026 fuel charge is $0.02448/kWh ($18.36 at 750 kWh); transmission, conservation, and renewable-development riders total $0.00693/kWh; and there is a $2.12 monthly affordability surcharge. Other riders were not verified. Before a complete Xcel bill can be shown, the currently implemented residential tariff and the selected month's riders and adjustments have to be reconciled.Xcel EnergyXcel Energy (as printed in the Lake City Graphic)Xcel EnergyXcel Energy
The city's benefit report, published with its wholesale supplier, compares a 900-kWh Luverne bill of $133.93 in 2025 with a regional investor-owned and co-op average of $133.50. That is the report's own calculation; its method and which bills it averaged are not published.Missouri River Energy Services / City of Luverne
“The most expensive of the three”
At the September 15, 2026 forum, resident Tony Gacke said Luverne is the most expensive of the three utilities he pays. On the base-plus-energy figures above, Luverne at 750 kWh is within about $6 of Sioux Valley's in-town rate, well below its farm and rural rate, and above St. James. A complete comparison with Xcel would need Xcel's adjustments for a specific month. One person's actual bills can rank differently: they depend on usage, season, rate class, and the adjustments each provider adds.Rock County Star Herald
Gacke's 2024 letter compared Luverne at “$0.13740/kWh” with Sioux Valley at “$0.10550.” The Sioux Valley figure was its 2024 energy rate without its $30 monthly base charge. The Luverne figure matches no posted schedule and is most consistent with an all-in number from an actual bill (base, energy, and power-cost adjustment together). Setting an all-in rate beside a bare energy rate overstates the gap.Rock County Star HeraldSioux Valley Energy
Luverne's posted rates
A Luverne home pays a $25.00 monthly base charge plus 12.70¢ per kWh from September through May and 14.00¢ from June through August. At 750 kWh that is $120.25 in a winter month and $130.00 in a summer month. A power-cost adjustment can be added when wholesale costs run above the base cost built into the rates ($0.0337–$0.0370/kWh, depending on season).City of Luverne
Rates have been rising on a council-adopted path of about 6% a year for 2024–26. At the September 15 forum, the committee behind the amendment said rates rose about 18% over three years, mainly to rebuild reserves, which fits that path.City of LuverneCity of LuverneRock County Star Herald
Council member Mert Kracht said at the forum that the city does a rate study every three years, that last year's water and wastewater study produced no increase, and that an electric rate study is underway. He also said Luverne has no local-option sales tax, while some cheaper peer cities do.Rock County Star Herald
Business rates
The same tariff sets two main business classes.
| Class | Who is on it | Base | Energy and demand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small commercial | Single-phase, peak demand under 20 kW | $38 | 11.60–12.90¢/kWh by season |
| Large commercial | Three-phase, or 20 kW+ peak for three months in a row | $77 | 4.85¢/kWh + $20.40–$24.80 per kW of demand |
Luverne business rate classes as posted in January 2026; monthly base charge and energy and demand charges, before any power-cost adjustment.City of Luverne
One line in the tariff stands out. The Economic Development Rate ($38 base, then one cent over cost per kWh) can be offered “when authorized by the City Administrator” under “such terms and conditions as deemed appropriate on an annual basis.” That is close to at-cost power, granted by one official. Which accounts hold it is not public, because municipal electric customer data are private or nonpublic under state law.City of LuverneMN Office of the Revisor of Statutes
This cuts both ways in the debate. It is the kind of discretion critics say needs more oversight, and it is also a discount the council's tariff already allows today.
Why this page does not estimate large-account bills
A large customer's effective price cannot be worked out from the schedule alone. It depends on peak demand (kW), how steadily the account uses power, and whether it qualifies for economic-development or interruptible rates. For that reason the page does not estimate savings or costs for any specific business account.City of Luverne
The same-size neighbor: St. James
St. James is the closest comparison to Luverne, and its posted residential rate is lower. It has about 4,800 residents to Luverne's 4,900 (2020 Census), and charges $22.50 a month plus a flat 9.0¢/kWh (rate sheet dated January 15, 2026). At 750 kWh, base plus energy is $90.00, against Luverne's $120.25 to $130.00.City of St. JamesCity of Luverne
Power supply and governance do not obviously account for the difference. St. James buys wholesale power from the same agency as Luverne (both are members of Missouri River Energy Services), keeps its own diesel plant under the same kind of capacity arrangement, and its council sets rates, not a commission.Missouri River Energy Services
What the record does show on Luverne's side: its rates carry debt service on the 2022 power-plant bonds and produce the surplus that funds transfers to the city. A full explanation of the difference would need both utilities' cost-of-service studies, which are not public.City of Luverne
Business rates are built differently. St. James's posted commercial sheet charges accounts over 50 kW $83.00 a month plus 5.0¢/kWh and lists no demand charge. Luverne's large-commercial class pays $77 a month plus 4.85¢/kWh and $20.40–$24.80 per kW of demand, depending on the month. Which is cheaper for a given business depends on its demand, so no comparison is made here.City of St. JamesCity of Luverne
Cheap rates do not mean a utility run at cost. On the State Auditor's uniform data, St. James's electric fund had a 22.7% operating margin in 2023, above Luverne's 13.9% that year, and transferred out 10.5% of revenue. A lower posted rate did not mean a lower margin or a smaller payment to the city that year.Minnesota Office of the State Auditor
Which customers pay the most per kilowatt-hour?
Among these Minnesota municipal utilities, Luverne's residential class had the highest average revenue per kWh: 14.01¢ in 2024, just above Fairmont (13.94¢) and well above Hutchinson, Windom, Marshall, and Moorhead. Luverne's blended average looks middling statewide because cheaper business, industrial, and electric-heat classes pull it down. These are historical averages, not today's posted usage charge.MN Department of Commerce eFiling
Homes paying more per kWh than industry is normal everywhere, since large industrial loads cost less to serve per kWh. How much more depends on local rate design. Luverne's 1.4× ratio sits in the middle of this group, well below Moorhead's 2.5×.
| City (governance, year) | Homes, ¢/kWh | Industry, ¢/kWh | Home ÷ industry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moorhead (commission), 2025 | 9.27¢ | 3.73¢ | 2.5× |
| Marshall (commission), 2025 | 9.85¢ | 6.66¢ | 1.5× |
| Hutchinson (commission), 2025 | 11.03¢ | 7.73¢ | 1.4× |
| Windom (commission), 2025 | 11.16¢ | 9.43¢ | 1.2× |
| Fairmont (council adopts rates on PUC advice), 2025 | 13.94¢ | 11.38¢ | 1.2× |
| Luverne (council-run), 2024 | 14.01¢ | 9.87¢ | 1.4× |
Average revenue per kWh by customer class (revenue divided by kWh), from each city's state filing. Luverne is calendar 2024; the others are 2025. Averages, not posted rates.
What this table does and doesn't cover
These are average revenue per kWh by customer class, from each city's annual report to the Minnesota Commerce Department. Every Minnesota utility files these class figures, including utilities like Luverne whose federal filing leaves them out.MN Department of Commerce eFiling
Luverne's row is calendar 2024, its latest state filing; the peer rows are 2025. The state report puts Luverne's residential electric-heat customers (304 on its space-heating sheet) in a combined “all other” row of 381 accounts averaging 9.97¢, so the residential row reflects homes without electric heat. Class definitions can also differ slightly from city to city.
The all-customer average, compared
Averaged over every customer class, the neighboring utilities' 2024 prices range from about 7 to 13¢ per kWh. This is the one measure every utility reports federally, but it favors utilities with big industrial loads, and it is not a bill. Each bar, Luverne's included, is the figure the utility itself filed.U.S. Energy Information Administration
What a kilowatt-hour costs here vs. the neighbors (2024)
Every bar is the same measure: blended average revenue per kWh across all customer classes, from 2024 federal filings. It is the only yardstick all ten utilities report. Where a utility also publishes a residential-only price federally, it appears in parentheses. Blended averages flatter utilities with big industrial loads, like Marshall. Every figure is as each utility submitted it, Luverne's included: $8.53 million in revenue ÷ 79,268 MWh = 10.76¢. Luverne's audit and state filing report fewer kWh sold that year (73,828 MWh); with the revenue on its state filing, that gives 11.55¢. Luverne files the short federal form, so it reports no residential-only price federally; its state filing gives 14.01¢ for residential customers.
Luverne's own revenue and sales over time
Nearly all of the electric utility's revenue growth since 2019 came from higher prices, not more sales. Revenue grew about 24–26% from 2019 to 2024 on every consistent source: the federal filings, the city's billing records, and the audit. On the city's own records, kilowatt-hours sold were nearly flat (up 0.4%), and customers grew about 1.6%.U.S. Energy Information AdministrationCity of Luverne / MSRB EMMACity of LuverneMN Department of Commerce eFiling
Measured the same way at both ends (billed revenue divided by kWh sold, from city billing records), revenue per kWh rose from about 9.33¢ in 2019 to 11.55¢ in 2024, up about 24%. Wholesale power cost about 4.9¢ per kWh sold in 2024, so a little over half of each revenue dollar pays for everything other than power: the wires, the plant and its debt, operations, and the transfers.City of Luverne / MSRB EMMAMN Department of Commerce eFilingCity of Luverne
| Year | Revenue, federal filing | kWh sold, city records | kWh sold, federal filing | Customers, federal filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | $6.87M | 73.6M | 73.6M | 2,576 |
| 2020 | $6.43M | 65.3M | 64.2M | 2,572 |
| 2021 | $7.48M | 71.0M | 70.4M | 2,591 |
| 2022 | $7.65M | 72.4M | 71.9M | 2,591 |
| 2023 | $7.86M | 72.6M | 78.6M | 2,594 |
| 2024 | $8.53M | 73.8M | 79.3M | 2,348 |
Luverne electric utility, calendar years 2019–2024. City records: the 2022 bond disclosure for 2019–2020 and the audit's statistical table for 2021–2024. The federal kWh and customer counts disagree with city and state records in 2023–2024.U.S. Energy Information AdministrationCity of Luverne / MSRB EMMACity of Luverne
Luverne’s 2024 price per kWh, measured different ways
Three published 2024 revenue figures can each be divided by the 73,828,009 kWh sold that the audit and the state filing agree on. They measure different things, and none of them is “the retail price”:
- Audited electric sales revenue: $8,105,152, or 10.98¢ per kWh. Accrual basis; excludes service income and other income.City of Luverne
- Revenue by customer class, as reported to the state: $8,527,049, or 11.55¢ per kWh. Self-reported; whether it includes sales tax, the power-cost adjustment, or fees is not stated. The only measure with class detail.MN Department of Commerce eFiling
- Audited total operating revenue: $8,794,494, or 11.91¢ per kWh. Includes $583,455 of service income, most likely the MRES capacity payment, which no retail customer pays.City of Luverne
The state filing is $421,897 above audited sales, and the published records do not explain the difference. The franchise fee or sales tax would be about the right size, but neither is documented as the cause. Settling it would take the city's 2024 electric revenue ledger and the billing summary behind its state and federal filings.
The federal filing also reports 79,268 MWh sold, which the audit and the state filing contradict, and 2,348 customers, against 2,613 in the state filing. The audit's own kWh for 2019 and 2020 are higher than the power the city bought those years, so this page uses the city's bond-disclosure figures for those years instead. 2019 is the one year Luverne filed federal class detail: residential 10.40¢, commercial 9.76¢, and industrial 7.26¢ per kWh.U.S. Energy Information AdministrationMN Department of Commerce eFilingCity of LuverneCity of Luverne / MSRB EMMA