Minnesota power outages by utility

34 Minnesota utilities report outage minutes to EIA. The state median is 62 minutes a year; the range runs from 1 to 188.

Ranking by outage minutes

Minnesota, SAIDI without major event days, 2024; lower is better; 34 utilities.

Rank	Minnesota utility	Owner type	Minnesota home accounts	SAIDI min	Interruptions (SAIFI)	SAIDI with storms	Minnesota storm share	Price ¢/kWh
1	City of Marshall	Municipal	5,857	1	0.01	1	0%	9.70
2	City of Alexandria	Municipal	8,758	4	0.09	4	0%	11.57
3	City of Austin	Municipal	10,795	7	0.13	8	12%	15.34
4	Shakopee Public Utilities Comm	Municipal	18,517	8	0.07	8	0%	15.54
5	City of Elk River	Municipal	11,776	10	0.14	42	77%	15.83
6	Dakota Electric Association	Cooperative	108,097	17	0.27	25	32%	14.00
7	Wright-Hennepin Coop Elec Assn	Cooperative	53,714	24	0.27	45	48%	14.59
8	City of Owatonna	Municipal	11,434	27	0.52	66	59%	15.27
9	Connexus Energy	Cooperative	134,095	30	0.33	181	83%	13.66
10	City of Anoka	Municipal	11,646	40	0.39	40	0%	15.88
11	Steele-Waseca Cooperative Electric	Cooperative	10,725	41	0.48	41	0%	15.63
12	Minnesota Valley Electric Coop	Cooperative	43,412	42	0.48	61	31%	13.98
13	Rochester Public Utilities	Municipal	54,943	43	0.74	102	58%	17.91
14	Freeborn Mower Electric Cooperative	Cooperative	17,842	50	0.47	86	43%	15.15
15	Runestone Electric Assn	Cooperative	14,282	52	0.46	68	24%	14.36
16	People's Cooperative Services	Cooperative	21,665	57	0.59	132	57%	16.70
17	Stearns Cooperative Elec Assn	Cooperative	26,138	57	0.61	133	57%	13.88
18	Agralite Electric Coop	Cooperative	4,333	68	0.99	68	1%	13.94
19	MiEnergy Cooperative	Cooperative	15,224	68	0.60	101	33%	16.56
20	South Central Electric Assn	Cooperative	4,665	70	0.93	72	2%	15.20
21	Crow Wing Cooperative Power & Light Comp	Cooperative	44,698	74	0.65	123	40%	13.33
22	Federated Rural Electric Assn	Cooperative	5,727	77	0.95	77	0%	11.64
23	East Central Energy	Cooperative	55,250	84	0.50	178	53%	16.89
24	Brainerd Public Utilities	Municipal	6,956	96	0.97	96	0%	12.15
25	Beltrami Electric Coop, Inc	Cooperative	20,732	96	1.18	118	19%	14.40
26	Meeker Coop Light & Power Assn	Cooperative	8,572	99	1.04	99	0%	14.09
27	Lake Region Electric Cooperative	Cooperative	27,239	102	1.00	297	66%	13.28
28	Itasca-Mantrap Co-op Electrical Assn	Cooperative	11,200	107	1.38	149	29%	13.44
29	Northern States Power Co - Minnesota	Investor Owned	1,230,057	110	1.08	309	64%	16.98
30	ALLETE, Inc.	Investor Owned	125,896	120	1.30	120	0%	15.66
31	Otter Tail Power Co	Investor Owned	50,118	142	1.12	155	9%	11.33
32	Minnesota Valley Coop L&P Assn	Cooperative	4,931	149	0.81	149	0%	12.22
33	Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative	Cooperative	14,546	157	1.22	237	34%	17.58
34	Lake Country Power	Cooperative	47,204	188	1.52	373	50%	17.90

Minnesota outage minutes by owner type

In Minnesota, 87% of 2,581,180 home accounts sit with the 34 qualifying utilities out of 44 in the file. Minnesota customer-weighted SAIDI is 91 minutes against a median of 62, and 8 of 34 Minnesota utilities exceed the U.S. median of 99. Counting major event days adds a median 30% to SAIDI.

Minnesota owner type	Minnesota utilities	Minnesota home accounts	Minnesota median SAIDI	Minnesota weighted SAIDI	Minnesota median SAIFI	Minnesota storm share	Minnesota median price ¢/kWh
Investor Owned	3	1,406,071	120	112	1.12	9%	15.66
Cooperative	22	694,291	69	61	0.63	32%	14.22
Municipal	9	140,682	10	30	0.14	0%	15.34

By owner type, Municipal utilities have the lowest median SAIDI in Minnesota (10 minutes, 9 of 34) and Investor Owned the highest (120 minutes, 3 of 34).

Minnesota utilities that stand out

Why it stands out	Minnesota utility	Minnesota owner type	Minnesota accounts	Minnesota SAIDI min	Minnesota SAIDI rank	Minnesota SAIFI	Minnesota SAIDI with storms	Minnesota price ¢/kWh	Minnesota price rank
the most reliable	City of Marshall	Municipal	5,857	1	1 of 34	0.01	1	9.70	1 of 34
the least reliable	Lake Country Power	Cooperative	47,204	188	34 of 34	1.52	373	17.90	33 of 34
the largest	Northern States Power Co - Minnesota	Investor Owned	1,230,057	110	29 of 34	1.08	309	16.98	31 of 34
the most storm-driven	Connexus Energy	Cooperative	134,095	30	9 of 34	0.33	181	13.66	10 of 34
the most improved	City of Anoka	Municipal	11,646	40	10 of 34	0.39	40	15.88	27 of 34
the priciest	Rochester Public Utilities	Municipal	54,943	43	13 of 34	0.74	102	17.91	34 of 34

Does a higher price buy fewer outages?

Each dot is one of 34 Minnesota utilities.

Minnesota, 2024: first 8 of 34 rows

	Home price, cents per kWh	SAIDI, minutes a year
City of Marshall	9.70	1
City of Alexandria	11.57	4
City of Austin	15.34	7
Shakopee Public Utilities Comm	15.54	8
City of Elk River	15.83	10
Dakota Electric Association	14.00	17
Wright-Hennepin Coop Elec Assn	14.59	24
City of Owatonna	15.27	27

34 rows from EIA-861 survey.

CSV

Minnesota utilities, change in their own SAIDI

First to last year each utility reported, best change first.

Rank	Minnesota utility	Minnesota years	Minnesota SAIDI first	Minnesota SAIDI last	Minnesota change
1	City of Anoka	2020 to 2025	34	10	-70%
2	Shakopee Public Utilities Comm	2015 to 2025	42	13	-70%
3	City of Elk River	2015 to 2025	24	12	-50%
4	South Central Electric Assn	2016 to 2025	177	91	-49%
5	Agralite Electric Coop	2015 to 2024	132	68	-48%
6	Wright-Hennepin Coop Elec Assn	2015 to 2025	44	29	-33%
7	Lake Country Power	2015 to 2025	202	141	-30%
8	City of Austin	2023 to 2025	7	5	-29%
9	Rochester Public Utilities	2015 to 2025	34	24	-28%
10	Federated Rural Electric Assn	2015 to 2025	151	116	-23%
11	Beltrami Electric Coop, Inc	2015 to 2025	114	90	-21%
12	Minnesota Valley Electric Coop	2016 to 2025	58	50	-14%
13	Crow Wing Cooperative Power & Light Comp	2015 to 2025	71	62	-13%
14	People's Cooperative Services	2015 to 2025	51	45	-11%
15	Minnesota Valley Coop L&P Assn	2015 to 2025	71	65	-9%
16	Itasca-Mantrap Co-op Electrical Assn	2015 to 2025	110	105	-5%
17	ALLETE, Inc.	2015 to 2025	102	102	+1%
18	Lake Region Electric Cooperative	2015 to 2025	117	121	+3%
19	Freeborn Mower Electric Cooperative	2015 to 2025	51	56	+9%
20	Runestone Electric Assn	2015 to 2025	106	116	+10%
21	East Central Energy	2015 to 2025	75	82	+10%
22	Dakota Electric Association	2015 to 2025	18	20	+11%
23	Stearns Cooperative Elec Assn	2015 to 2025	86	97	+12%
24	MiEnergy Cooperative	2015 to 2025	67	79	+18%
25	Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative	2015 to 2025	132	170	+29%
26	Northern States Power Co - Minnesota	2015 to 2025	87	115	+32%
27	City of Owatonna	2015 to 2025	7	10	+37%
28	Connexus Energy	2015 to 2025	24	38	+60%
29	Steele-Waseca Cooperative Electric	2015 to 2025	34	56	+67%
30	Meeker Coop Light & Power Assn	2015 to 2025	67	128	+91%
31	Otter Tail Power Co	2015 to 2024	53	142	+166%
32	City of Marshall	2021 to 2025	0	5	+1486%

Analyst note

The spread stands out in Minnesota: 288.8 to 1 between the worst and best utility, rank 2 of 40 states. Of 34 Minnesota utilities with 1,000+ home accounts that report SAIDI, City of Marshall is lowest at 1 minutes a year and Lake Country Power highest at 188, a 288.8 to 1 spread. The state median is 62 minutes, -37% against the U.S. median reporter. Over each utility's own record, City of Anoka improved most (34 to 10 minutes, -70%, 2020 to 2025) and City of Marshall changed the other way (0 to 5, +1486%); 16 of 32 fell. Home price and outage minutes line up at r = +0.14 across 34 Minnesota utilities: price tells almost nothing here. That is Minnesota's pattern, not a cause.

Questions on Minnesota outages

How uneven is reliability across Minnesota utilities?

288.8 to 1, Lake Country Power against City of Marshall; rank 2 of 40 states.

Which Minnesota utility has the fewest outage minutes?

City of Marshall: 1 minutes a year, SAIDI without major events, 2024.

Which Minnesota utility has the most?

Lake Country Power: 188 minutes a year in 2024.

What is the typical SAIDI in Minnesota?

The median of 34 reporting utilities is 62 minutes, -37% on the U.S. median reporter.

Do cheaper Minnesota utilities have more outages?

Across 34 utilities r = +0.14, so the link is weak.

How much of Minnesota outage time comes from storms?

At Connexus Energy 83% of all-event SAIDI is major event days.

How reliable is the largest Minnesota utility?

Northern States Power Co - Minnesota serves 1,230,057 home accounts and reports 110 minutes, rank 29 of 34; weighted by customers the state figure is 91.

Do Minnesota co-ops and investor-owned utilities differ?

3 owner types report in Minnesota: Municipal 9 utilities with 140,682 home accounts, Cooperative 22 utilities with 694,291 home accounts, Investor Owned 3 utilities with 1,406,071 home accounts.

What share of Minnesota home accounts do these utilities serve?

87% of 2,581,180 accounts, 34 of 44 utilities; 8 are above the U.S. median of 99 minutes.