Cost Disclosure

Minnesota Power proudly serves 141,000 electric customers
in Northeastern Minnesota and Northern Wisconsin.

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The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission requires electric utilities to provide customers with information on service costs related to the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity.

Utilities produce electricity at power plants by burning fuels (such as coal, natural gas, oil and biomass fuels like wood and wind) and by operating hydroelectric facilities. Utilities also purchase electricity from other utilities or power suppliers.

Electric Service: Costs

2007 Component Costs by Customer Category
	Res	Comm	Indust	Light
Generation	45%	75%	93%	35%
Transmission	3%	5%	6%	2%
Distribution	52%	20%	1%	63%
Total	100%	100%	100%	100%
Your monthly bill also displays a pie chart showing the average percentages for your specific customer category. Individual monthly percentages may vary from the average.

Minnesota Power charges customers for the costs of providing electric service, including investments in power plants, transmission and distribution lines, and operating and maintaining Minnesota Power's electric system.

The table to the right shows average percentages of monthly service costs related to the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity for four major customer categories:

Residential (Res) - household and farm usage;
Commercial (Comm) - small to medium service industries and manufacturing businesses;
Industrial (Indust) - large manufacturing and processing facilities; and
Lighting (Light) - outdoor/area and street/highway lighting.

The average percentages are calculated by dividing Minnesota Power's total cost to provide electric service among the generation, transmission and distribution components.