Josh Askvig, State Director, AARP ND, Bismarck

No North Dakotan should have to choose between paying their utility bills and putting food on the table or refilling their prescription medications. However, when utility companies seek to raise their rates annually and the North Dakota Public Service Commission (PSC)permits it, then choices like these become reality.

Utility costs remain top of mind for many older North Dakotans and their families, who are already concerned about making ends meet. On their own, these increases may appear minimal. However, these costs accumulate, and for many older customers, especially those on fixed incomes, rate hikes become a hardship.

In 2023, Montana-Dakota Utilities Company (MDU) requested a 17% increase in residential electric rates. In 2024, MDU requested an increase of 9.84% to residential natural gas rates. The same year, Xcel Energy sought a 12% increase in its residential natural gas rates. In all three cases, AARP North Dakota intervened, resulting in final rate increases that were lower than the requested amounts.

In 2025, Xcel Energy has again requested a rate hike – this time for electric customers. It’s too much.

Xcel Energy is the exclusive provider of utilities for thousands of North Dakotans. That lack of competition is why rate increases are vetted through the Public Service Commission. During the PSC’s public hearings, AARP North Dakota is often the only voice at the table raising concerns about the impact utility rate increases have on older North Dakotans.

But the commission also needs to hear directly from utility customers. Right now, if you are an Xcel Energy residential electric customer, email the Public Service Commission at ndpsc@nd.gov and ask them to stop their latest residential rate hikes.

Older North Dakotans have a voice when it comes to their utility rates, and it’s time to let the Public Service Commission hear it.