Ellison: Minnesota utilities overbilled customers by $380 million

July 8. 2021

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota attorney general’s office says the state’s utilities mismanaged their natural gas purchases after a historic winter storm in the South.

And it says that led them to overbill customers by $380 million.

Attorney General Keith Ellison (pictured) recommends that the state Public Utilities Commission allow utilities to recover only 53% of the $800 million in costs they are trying to pass along to consumers.

Wholesale gas prices in Minnesota and many other states soared in February when a deep freeze storm hit Texas and other natural gas-producing states, freezing infrastructure and disrupting supplies.