Electric

The City of Saint Peter Electric Utility provides electricity to approximately 4,500 Saint Peter residences and businesses.

CITY OF SAINT PETER BEING A ‘SMART ENERGY PROVIDER’

In 2022, City of Saint Peter earned the Smart Energy Provider (SEP) designation from the American Public Power Association for demonstrating a commitment to and proficiency in energy efficient, distributed generation, and environmental initiatives that support the goal of providing safe, reliable, low-cost, and sustainable electric service.  

The SEP designation is held by only 101 of the nation’s more than 2,000 public power utilities nationwide.  During SEP Week (March 6 – 10, 2023), designated utilities take the opportunity to shine a light on the “smart” programs that have gone toward earning the designation. 

Electric Rate Schedule

2023-2024 Electric Rate Schedule
If you have any billing questions, please call the Finance department at 507-934-0664.  If you have any service or technical questions please contact the Electric Utility at the Public Works Department at 507-934-0670.

Electric Charging Stations

EV charging stations are located in the Saint Peter Food Co-op parking lot adjacent to Hwy 169 and in City owned Parking Lot #2 – located downtown in the 100 block of Nassau Street.

There is one DC Fast Charger and one Level 2 Charger at each location. Fast chargers are initially more expensive and take more energy but have the capability to charge at a quicker rate (est. 180 miles of charge in an hour). Level 2 chargers use less power, require lower voltage and take longer to charge (est. 20 miles of charge in an hour). 

EVChoice

Electric Load Management

The City of Saint Peter requires all Electric Utility Customers, with newly installed or replacement central air conditioning, to participate in an "electric load management" program. This program helps reduce costs to the utility and to you, the customer. 

 How the Program Works

A load control unit is installed on your home and connected to your central air conditioner. When the electric demand is high the Utility cycles your air conditioner. Participants in the electric load management program for air conditioning receive a credit of $4 on your electric utility service each month for the months of May, June, July, August, and September.

 How Load Management Works

When load conditions indicate that peak demand for electricity is approaching, a signal is sent to the load control unit to turn off your air conditioner for 15 minutes (red light appears). After 15 minutes the air conditioner returns to service and is turned on and a yellow light will appear. The unit will continue to operate for 45 minutes; if the Electric Peak is still high the unit would run another cycle. This cycle of 15 minutes off and 45 minutes on would continue through the high energy demand peaks and is controlled by the City.  Your central air conditioner will be controlled only when there is a peak demand for electricity - usually on the hottest days of summer. Interrupting the air conditioner for 15 minutes out of each hour should not result in more than a degree or two increase in the house temperature.

 It is important that the Utility control the peak demand because our community is billed based on peak usage from our electric provider. The savings in our annual bills have been noticeable and it is the Utility’s intent to help citizens save on costs where available. 

Thank you for helping reduce costs for yourself and for your utility by participating in this load management program. If you have any questions about the load management program or your device, please call 507-934-0670.

Images below of Load Management Units.

All rates and credits are based on the cost of supplying electrical power to the customer and are reviewed and may be adjusted each year. Please contact the City Finance Department at 507-934-0664 for billing questions.

Streetlights

The Public Works Department is responsible for the streetlights located throughout the community. If you have an outage to report, contact the Public Works Department at 507-934-0670 with the following information:

• Exact location of streetlight
  • If it’s located in front of a house - provide the house number
  • If it’s located on a street corner - indicate which side of the corner
• Whether or not the light is completely out or is blinking intermittently

The repair of these lights are completed on a weekly basis. Streetlights are repaired during daylight hours and the information above is required to assist the crews with repairing the light.

Power Outages

If you have a power outage to report during the hours of Monday - Friday 7:00 AM- 5:00 PM, contact the Public Works Department at 507-934-0670. If the power outage happens after 5:00 PM or on a weekend please call the Police Department at 507-931-1550. 

If your power has been disconnected due to non-payment please call the Finance Department at 507-934-0664.

Awards                                                                    

RP3 Designation                                                               

In 2017 the Electric Section of the City of Saint Peter was designated an RP3 Community. RP3 stands for Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3) program which is really a peer-evaluation of a utility’s demonstrated proficiency in reliability, safety, work force development, and system improvement initiatives on a national level. The evaluation looks at sound business practices and recognizes utilities who are industry leaders.

The Saint Peter Electric Utility strives to meet customer expectations for delivery of dependable public power. The goal of the RP3 designation are to provide a utility with an evaluation tool to see how they are operating by comparing national benchmarks to their performance. In meeting this goal the electrical system and staff are evaluated, areas include:

System Improvements – measures taken to assure electrical system dependability, completing necessary research on possible system improvements. Operating an effective demand side management program while implementing conservation measures. Balancing electric load requirements with the customer needs.

Reliability – taking necessary steps and implementing procedures to minimize outages and maintain a high standard of service. Monitoring and protecting infrastructure investments. Working with other public power partners by way of mutual aid agreements and monitoring infrastructure security.  

Safety – how is the utility protecting its employee’s and how do those employee’s work with the day to maintain the customer has dependable power?

Workforce Development – what steps are taken to make sure that our work force is educated, a participant in the decision making process and involved within the community and engaged at work.

After evaluation by the peer group, if the Utility meets the criteria of RP3 the second goal is to receive “national recognition” for the excellent service provided. Acknowledgement of this success with our customers, our community leaders, state and federal regulatory agencies, and members of Congress is shared. Saint Peter received the RP3 designation this month at the American Public Power Association Engineering & Operations Technical Conference held in Minneapolis.

Nationally only 219 public power providers meet the criteria for RP3. In Minnesota, there are only 9 power providers meeting the national expectations. The Saint Peter Electric Utility is proud to be one of them.

APPA SAFETY AWARD

The City of Saint Peter was among 113 utilities across the country that received the Safety Award of Excellence from the American Public Power Association (APPA) for safe operating practices in 2018. This is the third year in a row we have received the award!

The award recognizes utilities with the lowest 2018 safety-incident rate within their groups, determined by worker-hours of exposure. The incidence rate is based on the number of work-related reportable injuries or illnesses and the number of worker-hours, as defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.