Xcel Energy South Dakota (Northern States Power) commercial electricity rates

• Average commercial price, 202510.79¢per kWh, all commercial customers
• vs South Dakota average+1.7%state commercial average 10.61¢
• Commercial customers13,8202nd largest of 17 in South Dakota
• Average use6,389 kWha month per commercial customer
• Average bill$689a month per commercial customer
• Since 2015+17%from 9.20¢ per kWh
• Outages58 mina year per customer · US average 124

Xcel Energy South Dakota (Northern States Power) is an investor-owned utility serving 10 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 2nd largest, with about 17% of the state’s commercial customers. EIA lists it as Northern States Power Co - Minnesota.

Xcel Energy South Dakota commercial electricity prices, 2015 to 2025

In 2015 Xcel Energy South Dakota billed its commercial customers an average of 9.20¢ per kWh. In 2025 the figure was 10.79¢, so it rose 17% over 10 years. The average for all commercial customers in South Dakota rose 16% over the same period. The highest year was 2024, at 11.50¢. Between 2024 and 2025 it fell 6.2%.

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 Xcel Energy South Dakota

In 2025 the average commercial price at Xcel Energy South Dakota was 18% below the residential figure and 28% 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 Xcel Energy South Dakota’s commercial rates are set

Xcel Energy South Dakota 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 Xcel Energy South Dakota

EIA counts 13,748 commercial meters at Xcel Energy South Dakota in 2025, and 13,680 of them (more than 99%) are advanced meters (AMI), which record use at least hourly and report it to the utility at least daily. Of the rest, 44 are automated-reading (AMR) meters, which send a reading to the utility for billing only, and 24 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.

At Xcel Energy South Dakota, 901 commercial customers were on a time-varying rate in 2025, about 6.5% of its commercial customers. A time-varying rate charges more in some hours than in others, so when a business uses power matters as well as how much. The kinds Xcel Energy South Dakota reports offering commercial customers are time-of-use pricing.

How reliable is Xcel Energy South Dakota’s electric service?

Xcel Energy South Dakota customers went without power for an average of 58 minutes in 2025, excluding major storms, with about 0.46 interruptions per customer. The average across U.S. utilities reporting the same way is 124 minutes. With major storms counted the figure was 160 minutes. These are averages over every customer of every class, so they describe the system and not any one street.

Where Xcel Energy South Dakota serves

EIA records Xcel Energy South Dakota serving customers in 10 South Dakota counties: Hanson, Hutchinson, Lake, Lincoln, McCook, Miner, Minnehaha, Moody, Sanborn, Turner. 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 MISO as its balancing authority. MISO 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¢)
• NorthWestern Energy (13.02¢)

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 Xcel Energy South Dakota’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: Xcel Energy South Dakota commercial electricity rates, CommercialElectricityRates.com, from EIA Form EIA-861 final 2025 data.

Common questions about Xcel Energy South Dakota

What is the average commercial electricity rate at Xcel Energy South Dakota?

Xcel Energy South Dakota billed its commercial customers in South Dakota an average of 10.79¢ per kWh in 2025, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That is 1.7% 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 Xcel Energy South Dakota?

About $689 a month in 2025, on average use of about 6,389 kWh a month. That is Xcel Energy South Dakota’s commercial revenue divided by its 13,820 commercial customers. A few very large accounts pull the average up, so most businesses pay less than this.

Have Xcel Energy South Dakota’s commercial electricity rates gone up?

The average Xcel Energy South Dakota billed commercial customers rose 17% between 2015 and 2025, from 9.20¢ to 10.79¢ per kWh. The South Dakota commercial average rose 16% over the same period.

How reliable is Xcel Energy South Dakota’s electric service?

Xcel Energy South Dakota customers averaged 58 minutes without power in 2025, excluding major storms, against a 124-minute average for U.S. utilities reporting the same way (EIA).

Does Xcel Energy South Dakota use smart meters for businesses?

EIA counts 13,680 advanced (AMI) meters among Xcel Energy South Dakota’s 13,748 commercial meters in 2025, which is more than 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 Xcel Energy South Dakota?

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 Xcel Energy South Dakota’s tariff.