Minnesotans Deserve Fair Power Bills, Not Utility Windfalls

Minnesota families are watching grocery receipts climb at the same moment investor-owned utilities are clocking record profits, and Ross Nova says that mismatch is exactly why he stepped into this race. The Minnesota Reformer flagged a watchdog report showing the companies charged with providing electricity are treating ratepayers like an ATM. When people in Bemidji, Worthington, or North Minneapolis see double-digit increases on their statements, they deserve to know every dime is working for them. Right now, it is underwriting shareholder windfalls.

According to the Energy & Policy Institute, Otter Tail Power pocketed roughly 17 cents of every customer dollar in both 2024 and 2025, and Xcel Energy cleared 17 cents one year and 15 the next. The industry average over that stretch was closer to 13% to 15%, which means Minnesota households are paying premium prices for above-average profits. Even Minnesota Power’s parent company matched the national average, then disappeared behind a private equity curtain that will share less information with the public. Nova says that when companies can hide the ball, working families end up footing it.

Utility executives point to the AI boom and data-center rush as proof that they must spend billions more, but that spending frenzy is happening without a clear plan to protect ordinary customers. Minnesota is already seeing 400-megawatt proposals that would swallow nearly half of Otter Tail’s generating capacity while Wall Street cheers. If the state does nothing, rate hikes will land long before the promised jobs materialize. Nova argues that Minnesota needs a governor who will slam the brakes on automatic approvals and demand that every project pencil out for ratepayers first.

His plan starts with transparency. Nova’s Minnesota Tax Tracker platform will show every household how much the state is extracting—and from whom—so they can see whether higher electric bills are underwriting real infrastructure or more corporate perks. The companion Real-Time Bill Tracker will let Minnesotans follow rate cases line by line, amendment by amendment, instead of waking up to surprise increases. When people can watch the sausage being made, insider deals dry up. That is how he intends to rebuild trust without waiting for Washington.

Oversight must be paired with action. Nova will appoint consumer advocates and rural co-op voices to every rate proceeding, insist on lower allowed returns on equity when companies miss reliability targets, and force big data-center deals to include binding community benefits before a single shovel hits dirt. He will also require utilities to prioritize local generation, weatherization, and grid modernization projects that lower costs faster than massive capital spending that only pleases shareholders. Minnesotans deserve an energy plan built around their household budgets, not venture-capital speculation, and Nova says accountability is the only way to get there.

This campaign is about building bridges between people who just want fair bills, reliable power, and honest leadership. Nova’s team is inviting supporters to volunteer, share the plan with neighbors, and hold this campaign accountable for delivering. Together Minnesotans can keep the state competitive, transparent, and united. The future Ross Nova is fighting for is one where state government finally serves the ratepayer, not the boardroom.

Source: Minnesota Reformer