Minnesota utility regulators Friday shot down CenterPoint Energy's request to reconsider a rate increase that fell well below what the company sought.
In June, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission authorized CenterPoint to hike rates by 3.3 percent or $27.5 million. CenterPoint, Minnesota's largest natural gas utility, had asked for 6.4 percent or $54.1 million.
The company petitioned for a rehearing, saying the PUC denied it a reasonable rate of return. The Minnesota Department of Commerce and the state attorney general's office recommended that the PUC reject CenterPoint's request. The agencies are charged with looking out for the public in rate cases.
The PUC voted unanimously to deny the review, without discussion.
"While we are disappointed with the outcome today, the Commission's decision speaks for itself," Rebecca Virden, a CenterPoint spokeswoman, said Friday.
CenterPoint, based in Houston, supplies gas to about 840,000 customers in Minnesota; 92 percent of them are residential rate payers. The company serves Minneapolis and parts of central and southern Minnesota.
CenterPoint has said that it primarily needs a larger rate hike to make big investments in its pipelines.
The company argued that the PUC's rate decision "was inappropriate for all aspects of rate of return," according to a PUC filing.
CenterPoint argued that the PUC "simply set a cost of capital that led to the lowest possible rate," a move inconsistent with PUC precedent and Minnesota court decisions, the filing said. The cost of capital is essentially the cost to finance a business, taking into account equity and debt.
Mike Hughlett • 612-673-7003
