Watertown Municipal Utilities electricity rates
Watertown Municipal Utilities charges an average of 9.30 cents per kilowatt-hour to residential customers, and the average household on its system paid $80 a month using 856 kilowatt-hours, according to its 2024 filing with the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Municipal utility SWPP South Dakota
Where Watertown Municipal Utilities sits
It is a smaller system, serving 11,633 residential customers, which means its fixed costs are spread across a narrow base. At 9.30¢ per kilowatt-hour it is one of the cheaper places to buy electricity in South Dakota, 40.9% under the statewide average of 15.73¢.
Consumption is close to the national norm at 856 kilowatt-hours a month against 871, so the rate translates fairly directly into the bill.
Owned by the city it serves and governed by a local board rather than the state commission. No shareholder return is built into the rate. That matters because a bill is not only the cost of generating electricity: it also carries the cost of the network, and who owns that network changes how it is paid for.
| Rate | Monthly bill | Monthly kWh | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Watertown Municipal Utilities | 9.30¢ | $80 | 856 |
| South Dakota average | 15.73¢ | $138 | 981 |
| United States average | 18.44¢ | $155 | 871 |
Utility figures: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861 annual electric power industry report, 2024. State and national figures: Electric Power Monthly, May 2026. Methodology
Where Watertown Municipal Utilities delivers
Its service territory covers one county in South Dakota.
- Codington
How often the power goes out
In 2024 the average Watertown Municipal Utilities customer went 3 minutes without electricity across 0.06 interruptions. The median across the 941 utilities that report this is 185 minutes.
That is markedly better than typical. Short outage durations usually mean an underground or heavily automated network, and they are expensive to achieve, which is part of why reliable systems often carry higher delivery charges.
Other South Dakota utilities
| Utility | Rate | Bill | Customers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern States Power Co - Minnesota | 13.87¢ | $103 | 92,204 |
| Black Hills Power, Inc. | 14.37¢ | $110 | 60,951 |
| City of Brookings | 11.12¢ | $90 | 10,544 |
| Black Hills Electric Coop, Inc | 14.76¢ | $164 | 9,227 |
| Otter Tail Power Co | 10.93¢ | $112 | 9,048 |
Watertown Municipal Utilities rates: common questions
How much does Watertown Municipal Utilities charge per kilowatt-hour?
An average of 9.30 cents per kilowatt-hour across its residential customers in 2024. That is -40.9% against the South Dakota average of 15.73¢ and -49.6% against the national average of 18.44¢. It is an all-in average across every residential rate schedule the utility offers, not a specific tariff.
What is the average Watertown Municipal Utilities bill?
$80 a month, based on total residential revenue divided by residential customers over the 2024 survey year, at an average of 856 kWh a month. The national average bill is $155 at 871 kWh.
Who owns Watertown Municipal Utilities?
It is classified by the EIA as a municipal utility. Owned by the city it serves and governed by a local board rather than the state commission. No shareholder return is built into the rate.
Is Watertown Municipal Utilities expensive compared with other South Dakota utilities?
It ranks #19 of the 20 South Dakota utilities covered here, counting from the most expensive. Nationally it ranks #1301 of 1369.