MDU, Otter Tail customers to pay for Big Stone II

North Dakota customers of two utilities will be paying higher electric bills for three years for a power plant that will never be built.

State regulators say Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. and Otter Tail Power Co. may charge their customers for development costs for the Big Stone II power plant. The project was abandoned last year.

For a typical residential customer, the MDU bill will go up by $1.49 a month. Bills for Otter Tail customers will go up by about 62 cents a month.

North Dakota Public Service Commission Chairman Kevin Cramer says the commission is meeting Friday to approve the agreements.

Cramer says he doesn't like asking ratepayers to pay for a failed project, but he says the law is in the utilities' favor.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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