Minnesota · Investor Owned · serves 113 ZIP codes
ALLETE, Inc. rate plans
2 residential plans are currently open to new customers that we can price side by side. Some charge different prices depending on the hour — which is where most of the savings hide.
What does ALLETE cost at a normal month’s usage?
A household using 1,000 kWh a month pays about $1,042 a year on the cheapest of the 6 plans we can price here — Residential Electric Vehicle Service — and $1,609 on the priciest. Same house, same wires.
| A month of | Cheapest, a year | On which plan | Priciest |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 kWh | $557 | Residential Electric Vehicle Service | $894 |
| 1,000 kWh | $1,042 | Residential Electric Vehicle Service | $1,609 |
| 2,000 kWh | $2,012 | Residential Electric Vehicle Service | $3,037 |
The same plan is cheapest at every level of use here, so the answer does not turn on how much you use. Estimates from the filed tariff, priced hour by hour on a household with central air — not a quote.
How much does the plan you pick actually matter here?
Run the same three-bedroom house with central air through every plan ALLETE, Inc. files, and the bill lands anywhere between $1,185 and $1,305 a year. That $120 spread is not a difference in electricity — it is the same kilowatt-hours, from the same wires, priced under different rules. Nobody sends you a letter when you are on the wrong side of it.
None of these 2 plans price by the hour, so when you use electricity here makes no difference to what you pay — only how much. That narrows your options to two levers: use less, or pick the plan whose fixed charge and tier structure suit your size of household.
Watch the fixed charges too. Across these plans they run from $108 to $180 a year before a single kilowatt-hour is counted. For a small household that difference alone can outweigh the per-kWh price, which is why comparing cents per kilowatt-hour on its own quietly misleads.
How ALLETE compares with the rest of the country
ALLETE is the only Minnesota utility we can price, so there is no in-state comparison to make. Against the whole country there is: run the same three-bedroom house with central air through its default plan at each of the 125 utilities we cover, and ALLETE lands 16th cheapest — in the cheaper half — at about $1,185 a year against a national median of $1,547. The range runs from $905 at Entergy Louisiana (Louisiana) to $5,089 at Ameren Illinois (Illinois).
The other two households sit in the same place: a small apartment pays about $663 here against a national median of $895, and the same house with an electric car charging overnight about $1,601 against $2,062. Effective rate, fixed charge included, is 12.5¢ per kilowatt-hour for the family home.
Inside ALLETE itself, the gap between its cheapest and dearest plan for that house is $120 a year. That is the part of the bill a customer here can act on; the rest is set by which utility the address falls under.
When are ALLETE’s peak hours?
ALLETE’s peak hours are 8am–10pm. Everything outside those hours is off-peak. Weekends are off-peak all day.
At peak, Residential Electric Vehicle Service charges 12.1¢ a kWh; off-peak it is 3.8¢ — 3.2× apart. These hours only matter on a time-of-use plan — the default plan, Residential-General, charges one rate at every hour.
On Residential Electric Vehicle Service, every kilowatt-hour a day you move from 8am to midnight is worth about $30 a year in the month the gap is widest — an electric car or a water heater on a timer is the kind of load that actually moves. When to charge an electric car →
Which plan would cost you least?
No bill upload, no sign-up. Tell us roughly what a month costs you and what runs on electricity — we price every plan against the same household and show you the gap.
That adds up to 13,820 kWh a year. Compare it to the total on your bill and adjust until it’s close.
Same usage, different plan
$660a year
That is the gap between the cheapest plan you could be on — Residential Electric Vehicle Service — and the priciest. Not by using less power. By being billed differently for the same power.
| Plan | Per year | Vs best |
|---|---|---|
| Residential Electric Vehicle ServicePeak hits 8am–10pm on weekdays, all year. | $1,163 | — |
| Residential Electric Vehicle Service (Renewable Energy Option)Peak hits 8am–10pm on weekdays, all year. | $1,163 | +$0 |
| Residential Dual Fuel Interruptible Electric ServiceOne rate, every hour of the year. | $1,375 | +$212 |
| Residential - Space HeatingOne rate, every hour of the year. | $1,681 | +$518 |
| Residential-GeneralOne rate, every hour of the year. | $1,681 | +$518 |
| Residential-SeasonalOne rate, every hour of the year. | $1,823 | +$660 |
An estimate, not a quote. Supply charges move month to month, and your real usage pattern is not exactly this one. What it does show reliably is the gap between plans — both are priced off the same assumptions.
Before you switch anything
- What is a time-of-use electricity rate?
The same kilowatt-hour, priced differently depending on when you use it.
- Should you switch to a time-of-use electricity plan?
A wide peak-to-off-peak gap is a lever, not a saving. Levers need something to move.
- How to compare electricity plans without getting it wrong
Six things that break a comparison, and the order to check them in.
Every plan, in detail
Hour-by-hour schedules, tier thresholds, and the tariff each one comes from.
- Residential - Space Heatingflat
One rate, every hour of the year.
11.4¢ - Residential Dual Fuel Interruptible Electric Serviceflat
One rate, every hour of the year.
8.6¢ - Residential Electric Vehicle Servicetime-of-use
Peak hits 8am–10pm on weekdays, all year.
3.8–12.1¢ - Residential Electric Vehicle Service (Renewable Energy Option)time-of-use
Peak hits 8am–10pm on weekdays, all year.
3.8–12.1¢ - Residential-Generalflat
One rate, every hour of the year.
11.4¢ - Residential-Seasonalflat
One rate, every hour of the year.
11.9¢