PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — Customers in South Dakota who use credit cards to pay their utility bills from Otter Tail Power could be getting a small temporary reprieve.
The company based in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, has asked South Dakota regulators for approval to suspend its payment-processing company’s credit card convenience fee of $2.25.
The suspension would last until Otter Tail puts in place a new payment system that can differentiate a customer’s state and apply the appropriate convenience fee.
Otter Tail serves customers in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.
The company recently sent a letter to the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission explaining the reason for wanting the suspension. Minnesota regulators approved Otter Tail’s request to include convenience fees for credit card payments in base rates in its latest general rate case, with final rates going into effect on July 1, 2022.
“The proposed suspension of the credit card convenience fee is due to Otter Tail’s current digital payment system not able to distinguish which state customers’ electric accounts are in when paying with a credit card,” wrote Jason Grenier, Otter Tail’s market-planning manager.
He continued, “To accommodate the removal of the per transaction convenience fee in Minnesota, Otter Tail plans to also suspend the convenience fees temporarily in both its South Dakota and North Dakota jurisdictions also on July 1, 2022.”
Grenier said Otter Tail would pay all convenience fees during the suspension period.
The matter is on the agenda for the South Dakota commission’s July 5 meeting. Otter Tail didn’t provide an estimate of its temporary additional cost for covering the fees.
Another Otter Tail docket that same day seeks the commission’s approval for the company collecting an additional $2,997,688 from customers through phase-in riders on electricity and natural-gas rates.