13.35¢
per kWh, 2025
[ NorthWestern Energy / SD ]
NorthWestern Energy electricity rates in South Dakota
NO RATE CASE ON FILE · DATA 2025
change in average rate, 2024→2025
+6.3%
vs 2024
51,787
residential customers
+17.1%
since 2020
What your bill becomes
Bill today
No change on file
Difference / month · / year
Estimated at NorthWestern Energy's average effective residential rate (13.35¢/kWh, EIA, all charges included). Your tariff, fees and taxes differ.
Rate history 2015–2025
| Year | ¢/kWh | Change | Customers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 8.98¢ | — | 49,807 |
| 2016 | 10.46¢ | +16.5% | 50,016 |
| 2017 | 11.04¢ | +5.5% | 50,248 |
| 2018 | 10.73¢ | −2.8% | 50,547 |
| 2019 | 10.61¢ | −1.1% | 50,615 |
| 2020 | 11.40¢ | +7.5% | 50,646 |
| 2021 | 11.45¢ | +0.4% | 50,805 |
| 2022 | 11.71¢ | +2.3% | 51,069 |
| 2023 | 11.26¢ | −3.8% | 51,261 |
| 2024 | 12.56¢ | +11.6% | 51,467 |
| 2025 | 13.35¢ | +6.3% | 51,787 |
How this compares
13.32¢
South Dakota average, 2025
+0.2%
NorthWestern Energy vs SD 2025 average
−22.5%
vs US 2025 average
#7
priciest in SD
Serves 27 counties in South Dakota: Aurora, Beadle, Bon Homme, Brown, Brule, Charles Mix, Clark, Codington, Davison, Day, Deuel, Douglas, Edmunds, Faulk, Hamlin, Hand, Hanson, Hughes, Hutchinson, Hyde, Jerauld, Kingsbury, Marshall, Sanborn, Spink, Turner, Yankton.
What the numbers show
Since 2015, NorthWestern Energy's average residential rate has gone from 8.98¢ to 13.35¢ per kWh: +48.7% over 10 years, or about +4.0% a year. It rose in 7 of the 10 years we can compare, and the biggest one-year increase was +16.5% in 2016. The largest drop was −3.8% in 2023.
For a home using 984 kWh a month, the South Dakota average, NorthWestern Energy's 2025 rate works out to about $1,576 a year, about the same as the same home would pay at South Dakota's average rate of 13.32¢. Of the 21 South Dakota utilities in our data with a 2025 price, it is the 7th most expensive.
NorthWestern Energy served 49,807 homes in 2015 and 51,787 in 2025 (+4.0%), about 12% of South Dakota's residential electricity customers.
Who sets NorthWestern Energy's rates
NorthWestern Energy is investor-owned, so it can change its base rates only by filing a rate case with the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission. The commission holds hearings and takes public comment before it rules, and it usually approves less than the company asks for. Fuel and other pass-through charges can change between rate cases.
Commission contact: South Dakota Public Utilities Commission. How we calculate every figure on this page: methodology.
Questions
Is NorthWestern Energy raising rates in 2026?
No rate case for NorthWestern Energy is on file with the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission in our tracker. Its average residential rate moved +6.3% from 2024 to 2025. We check the commission docket monthly.
What does NorthWestern Energy charge per kWh?
NorthWestern Energy's average effective residential rate was 13.35¢ per kWh in 2025 (EIA-861, revenue divided by sales, all charges included). South Dakota's 2025 average was 13.32¢.
How much have NorthWestern Energy rates gone up in five years?
+17.1% between 2020 and 2025, against +19.8% for South Dakota as a whole over the latest five-year window.
How many customers does NorthWestern Energy have in South Dakota?
51,787 residential customers in 2025, across 27 counties including Aurora, Beadle, Bon Homme, according to the EIA-861 survey.
Where do these numbers come from?
Rates and customer counts are from the US Energy Information Administration's annual EIA-861 survey, which every US utility files. Nothing here is a utility bill; use it to understand the direction and size of changes.
Sources
- EIA-861 Sales to Ultimate Customers, 2015–2025 (released 2026-10-07)
- EIA-861M monthly state averages through Jul 2026
- NREL utility-by-ZIP lookup (2024)