Cost Disclosure

Minnesota Power proudly serves 144,000 electric customers
in Northeastern Minnesota and Northern Wisconsin.

About MN Power...

Environmental Cost Disclosure

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.

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

Transmission - High-voltage electricity travels from power plants along transmission lines to distribution substations.

Distribution - At distribution substations, the voltage is reduced and low-voltage electricity is delivered to customers. The amount of electricity is metered to measure customer usage levels.

Electric Service Costs:

2009 Component Costs by Customer Category
	Res	Comm	Indust	Light
Generation	47%	63%	90%	41%
Transmission	4%	6%	8%	4%
Distribution	49%	31%	2%	55%
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.