PIERRE, S.D. (KELO.com) -- The historic tax cuts approved by Congress may help lower the bills of customers of Xcel Energy, MidAmerican Energy, and other utilitiy companies.
The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission says utilities pass the costs of federal income taxes through to ratepayers. The expectation is that lower rates may mean lower monthly charges.
PUC Chairperson Kristie Fiegen has requested the PUC staff begin evaluating how each of the state’s six investor-owned electric and natural gas utilities will reflect the tax changes.
“Consumer protection is among the PUC’s top priorities,” Fiegen says. “If companies will experience a reduction in taxes, the expectation is those savings should flow to consumers.”
Fiegen expects that analyzing the effect the tax plan will have on each regulated utility will be a complex and time-consuming process. “Once the details of the tax reform are made clear, the PUC will move with all haste to ensure ratepayers will be paying no more than what they should,” says Fiegen.
