NorthWestern Energy commercial electricity rates in South Dakota

• Average commercial price, 202513.02¢per kWh, all commercial customers
• vs South Dakota average+23%state commercial average 10.61¢
• Commercial customers13,5513rd largest of 17 in South Dakota
• Average use4,223 kWha month per commercial customer
• Average bill$550a month per commercial customer
• Since 2015+55%from 8.38¢ per kWh
• Outages82 mina year per customer · US average 124

NorthWestern Energy is an investor-owned utility serving 27 counties in South Dakota. Among the 17 South Dakota utilities in EIA’s 2025 sales data with 500 or more commercial customers, it is the 3rd largest, with about 17% of the state’s commercial customers.

NorthWestern Energy commercial electricity prices, 2015 to 2025

In 2015 NorthWestern Energy billed its commercial customers an average of 8.38¢ per kWh. In 2025 the figure was 13.02¢, so it rose 55% over 10 years. The average for all commercial customers in South Dakota rose 16% over the same period. The latest year, 2025, is the highest of the 11 on record here. Between 2024 and 2025 it rose 8.4%.

Average use and average bill are the utility’s commercial sales and revenue divided by its commercial customers and by twelve. The bill is an all-in figure: energy, delivery, demand and fixed charges together. A few very large customers pull both averages up, so most businesses use and pay less than the average.

Residential, commercial and industrial prices at NorthWestern Energy

In 2025 the average commercial price at NorthWestern Energy was 2.5% below the residential figure and 47% above the industrial one. Larger customers take power at a higher voltage and use it more steadily, so at most utilities the average falls from residential to commercial to industrial. Which class an account falls in is the utility’s decision, and the line between commercial and industrial is drawn differently from one utility to the next.

How NorthWestern Energy’s commercial rates are set

NorthWestern Energy is investor-owned, so its rates are set in cases before the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission and published in a tariff, which is a public document. A commercial account is billed on a rate schedule, chosen by the size of the account and the voltage it takes power at, and a schedule usually combines a fixed monthly charge, a charge per kWh and, above a certain size, a demand charge on the highest rate of draw in the month. The schedule code is printed on the bill. There is no competitive supply market for ordinary commercial accounts in South Dakota, so the levers are the schedule, the peak and the amount used.

Meters, time-varying rates and net metering at NorthWestern Energy

EIA counts 13,747 commercial meters at NorthWestern Energy in 2025, and 13,671 of them (99%) are advanced meters (AMI), which record use at least hourly and report it to the utility at least daily. Of the rest, 76 are standard meters. An advanced meter is what makes interval data possible, and interval data is what shows when a building’s peak demand happens.

How reliable is NorthWestern Energy’s electric service?

NorthWestern Energy customers went without power for an average of 82 minutes in 2025, excluding major storms, with about 0.85 interruptions per customer. The average across U.S. utilities reporting the same way is 124 minutes. With major storms counted the figure was 120 minutes. These are averages over every customer of every class, so they describe the system and not any one street.

Where NorthWestern Energy serves

EIA records NorthWestern Energy serving customers in 27 South Dakota counties: Aurora, Beadle, Bon Homme, Brown, Brule, Charles Mix, Clark, Codington, Davison, Day, Deuel, Douglas, Edmunds, Faulk, Hamlin, Hand, Hanson, Hughes, and 9 more. A county can be shared between utilities, so this does not tell you who serves a given address. The utility that serves an address is the one named on its bill.

EIA lists the Southwest Power Pool as its balancing authority. SPP is one of the organised wholesale markets, which run the grid and the wholesale power market across their area.

Other utilities in South Dakota

The average each billed its commercial customers in 2025. The South Dakota page has the state’s own figures and every utility with 500 or more commercial customers.

• Black Hills Energy (13.99¢)
• Xcel Energy South Dakota (10.79¢)

What these figures can and cannot tell you

• They are averages over every commercial customer. A utility whose commercial customers are mostly large averages fewer cents per kWh than one serving mostly small shops, so a lower figure can mean larger customers and not a lower rate.
• They are not a rate schedule. None of these figures is a charge printed in NorthWestern Energy’s tariff, and nothing here works out a bill from one. The tariff index lists the utilities whose filed schedules are quoted on this site.
• They are annual and final. EIA publishes utility figures once a year. The South Dakota page carries the state’s trailing 12 months, which is more recent and still preliminary.

For one building, the cost estimator gives a range by building type, size and state, and price by utility sets every utility side by side. Commercial vs residential vs industrial compares the classes in every state.

Data: every year of these figures, for this utility and every other with a page, is in one CSV, free to use with credit to the U.S. Energy Information Administration and this site. To cite this page: NorthWestern Energy commercial electricity rates, CommercialElectricityRates.com, from EIA Form EIA-861 final 2025 data.

Common questions about NorthWestern Energy

What is the average commercial electricity rate at NorthWestern Energy?

NorthWestern Energy billed its commercial customers in South Dakota an average of 13.02¢ per kWh in 2025, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That is 23% above the South Dakota commercial average of 10.61¢. It is the utility’s commercial revenue divided by its commercial sales, so it describes the whole class and is not the rate on any one schedule.

How much is the average commercial electric bill at NorthWestern Energy?

About $550 a month in 2025, on average use of about 4,223 kWh a month. That is NorthWestern Energy’s commercial revenue divided by its 13,551 commercial customers. A few very large accounts pull the average up, so most businesses pay less than this.

Have NorthWestern Energy’s commercial electricity rates gone up?

The average NorthWestern Energy billed commercial customers rose 55% between 2015 and 2025, from 8.38¢ to 13.02¢ per kWh. The South Dakota commercial average rose 16% over the same period.

How reliable is NorthWestern Energy’s electric service?

NorthWestern Energy customers averaged 82 minutes without power in 2025, excluding major storms, against a 124-minute average for U.S. utilities reporting the same way (EIA).

Does NorthWestern Energy use smart meters for businesses?

EIA counts 13,671 advanced (AMI) meters among NorthWestern Energy’s 13,747 commercial meters in 2025, which is 99%. An advanced meter records use at least hourly, which is what makes interval data and time-varying rates possible.

Is this the rate my business will pay NorthWestern Energy?

No. It is an average over every commercial customer, from a corner shop to a campus. What one business pays depends on its rate schedule, how much it uses and how hard it draws at its peak. The schedule code is printed on the bill, and the schedule itself is in NorthWestern Energy’s tariff.