Fairmont Public Utilities
Fairmont has generated its own electricity and pumped its own drinking water since 1902. Today the municipal utility serves about 11,000 residential and commercial customers with electric, water, wastewater, and stormwater service.
Billing questions: (507) 238-9461 · After-hours emergency: (507) 235-6789
Scroll the journey below, or jump straight to the number.
The Water Journey
Your utility bill is the last stop on a real trip across town. Follow the water: it starts in the lake the city drinks from, passes through a plant Fairmont has owned since 1902, rides the mains under every street, spins your meter, and lands as line items you can check yourself.
1 The Source
The city's drinking water is supplied by Budd Lake, one of the five lakes chained through town. Fairmont pumps from the lake, treats every gallon, and delivers it to roughly 3,941 residential water customers. The chain is public water in every sense: its health is watched by the Lakes Management Committee, in open meetings.
2 The Plant
On April 5, 1902, the City of Fairmont bought the local power plant from the St. John brothers for $2,800, and the utility has run on public ownership ever since. In 2013 the city completed a $31 million water treatment plant that can soften, filter, and disinfect 5.4 million gallons a day. The whole story is in the utility's own book: Utility History: 1902 – 2015 (PDF).
3 The Mains
Between the plant and your property sit 83 miles of water mains and 137 miles of electric lines, maintained by city crews. Planting a tree or setting a fence post? Call Gopher State One Call at 1-800-252-1166 before you dig, every time. Moving in or out? Service starts and stops through the utility office.
4 Your Meter
The meter is where the journey becomes your bill: electricity is measured by the kilowatt hour, water by the gallon and billed per 1,000. Skip the paper and the stamp: sign up for eBilling on the Pay a Bill page, or have your payment drawn automatically each month.
5 Your Bill
This estimator prices your usage against the city's published 2026 rate schedule, one schedule line at a time, exactly as adopted. It is an estimate, not a bill.
Figures from the city's 2026 rate schedule: 2026 Utility Rate Schedule (PDF). Your actual bill may include items this estimate does not.
Some schedule items are not estimated here, including Monthly Energy Cost Adjustment (ECA). See the full schedule.
On the ECA, the schedule's own note: ECA will factor in: recovery of SMMA's ECA; other adjustments as approved by the Fairmont PUC.
Adopted rates effective January 1, 2026, for every class of service. The estimator above uses these same lines; the schedule itself is the source of record: 2026 Utility Rate Schedule (PDF).
| Line Item | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Customer Charge | $7.50 per month | Fairmont Public Utilities Electric Rates – 2026 |
| Energy Charge | $.1226 per kWh | |
| Minimum Bill | $7.50 per month |
| Line Item | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Customer Charge | $7.50 per month | |
| Energy Charge – First 800 kWh per month | $.1220 per kWh | |
| Energy Charge – Over 800 kWh per month | $.1160 per kWh | |
| Minimum Bill | $7.50 per month |
| Line Item | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Customer Charge | $16.00 per month | Availability: customer with loads of less than 50 kW |
| Energy Charge | $.1214 per kWh | |
| Minimum Bill | $16.00 per month |
| Line Item | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Demand Charge | $14.53 per kW | Availability: customer with loads of greater than 50 kW. Billing demand shall be the greater of the measured demand for the billing period or 75% of the maximum measured demand for the most current June–September months. |
| Energy Charge | $.0782 per kWh |
| Line Item | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Demand Charge | $14.53 per kW | Availability: customer with loads of greater than 250 kW. Billing demand shall be the greater of the measured demand for the billing period or 75% of the maximum measured demand for the most current June–September months. |
| Energy Charge | $.0782 per kWh | |
| Power Factor Adjustment | .95 power factor threshold | If the customer's average power factor is less than .95, the billing demand shall be adjusted to bring the power factor to .95. |
| Primary Voltage Discount | 2.0 percent discount on demand & energy charges |
| Line Item | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Demand Charge | $14.53 per kW | Availability: customer with electric heat loads greater than 35 kW |
| Energy Charge | $.0782 per kWh |
| Line Item | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Customer Charge | $10.50 per month | |
| Energy Charge | $.1258 per kWh | |
| Minimum Bill | $10.50 per month |
| Line Item | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Energy Charge – Winter Heating Season (Sept – April) | $.0897 per kWh | |
| Minimum Bill (Heating Season only) | $16.00 per month |
| Line Item | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Customer Charge | $106.00 per month | |
| Energy Charge – Summer Season (June–Sept) | $.120 per kWh | |
| Energy Charge – Winter Season (Oct – May) | $.108 per kWh |
| Line Item | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2011, 2012, 2013 | $0.024814 per kWh | ECA is applied to the electrical usage each month during the calendar year. |
| 2014 | $0.026809 per kWh | |
| 2015 | $0.000000 per kWh | |
| 2016 | $0.002931 per kWh | |
| 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 | $0.006675 per kWh | |
| 2023 | $0.013685 per kWh | |
| *2024, 2025, 2026 | $.0000000 per kWh | *ECA will factor in: recovery of SMMA's ECA; other adjustments as approved by the Fairmont PUC. |
| Line Item | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| First 15,000 gal per month | $10.70 per 1000 gallons | Effective January 1, 2026 |
| Excess gal per month | $11.83 per 1000 gallons | |
| Minimum Charge per month | $16.59 per month | In addition to customer charge |
| Monthly Customer Charge | $32.96 per month | |
| Water Infrastructure Charge | $5.65 per month |
| Line Item | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| First 900,000 gal per month | $8.92 per 1000 gallons | |
| Excess gal per month | $9.17 per 1000 gallons | |
| Minimum Charge per month | $16.59 per month | In addition to customer charge |
| Monthly Customer Charge | $62.91 per month | |
| Water Infrastructure Charge | $5.65 per month |
| Line Item | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| First 9,750,000 gal per month | $7.07 per 1000 gallons | Industrial rate applies to >1,870,000 gallons per month |
| Excess gal per month | $8.02 per 1000 gallons | |
| Minimum Charge per month | $16.59 per month | In addition to customer charge |
| Monthly Customer Charge | $62.91 per month | |
| Water Infrastructure Charge | $5.65 per month |
| Line Item | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Lake Restoration Charge | $4.00 per month | To fund water quality improvements of the Fairmont Lakes. |
| City Wide Cleanup and Leaf Pickup + Tree Dump Maintenance (combined) | $3.00 per month | Includes $1.50 for City Wide Cleanup and Leaf Pickup and $1.50 for Tree Dump Maintenance. |
| – City Wide Cleanup and Leaf Pickup (component) | $1.50 per month | Component of the $3.00 combined charge. |
| – Tree Dump Maintenance (component) | $1.50 per month | Component of the $3.00 combined charge. |
| Line Item | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Storage Capacity | 4,300,000 gallons | Facility fact, not a charge. |
| Pumping Capacity | 3,000 gallons per minute | Facility fact, not a charge. |
| Total Tap Water Hardness | 85 PPM | Facility fact, not a charge. |
| Line Item | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| First 1000 gallons – 5/8" x 3/4" meter | $21.10 minimum bill (per month, by meter size) | Effective January 1, 2026. Minimum bill is based on water meter size. |
| First 1000 gallons – 1" meter | $56.51 minimum bill (per month, by meter size) | |
| First 1000 gallons – 1 1/4" meter | $90.62 minimum bill (per month, by meter size) | |
| First 1000 gallons – 1 1/2" meter | $127.20 minimum bill (per month, by meter size) | |
| First 1000 gallons – 2" meter | $244.39 minimum bill (per month, by meter size) | |
| First 1000 gallons – 3" meter | $566.49 minimum bill (per month, by meter size) | |
| First 1000 gallons – 4" meter | $943.77 minimum bill (per month, by meter size) | |
| First 1000 gallons – 6" meter | $1,436.59 minimum bill (per month, by meter size) | |
| Over 1000 gallons | $3.77 per 1000 gallons | |
| Minimum Bill | based on water meter size | No single value; determined by meter size (see First 1000 gallons rows above). |
| Infrastructure Charge | $16.82 per month |
| Line Item | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| All Consumption | $5.87 per 1000 gallons | |
| Minimum Charge | $34.40 per month | |
| Infrastructure Charge | $16.82 per month |
| Line Item | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| TSS | $1.0812 per lb | Industrial rate based on concentration. TSS concentration: 250 PPM. |
| BOD | $1.2774 per lb | BOD concentration: 250 PPM. |
| TKN | $2.9080 per lb | TKN concentration: 40 PPM. |
| P | $9.6991 per lb | P (phosphorus) concentration: 5 PPM. |
| FOG | $1.7744 per lb | FOG concentration: 100 PPM. |
| Infrastructure Charge | $16.82 per month |
| Line Item | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Capacity of Treatment Plant | 5,400,000 gallons per day | Facility fact, not a charge. |
Utility accounts open through the utility office at City Hall, 100 Downtown Plaza. Connections happen on weekdays, Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, excluding holidays.
To set up electric, water, and wastewater service, the office needs four things before crews connect:
Submit by mail to 100 Downtown Plaza, Fairmont, MN 56031, in the Public Utility Payment Drop Box on the east side of City Hall in the alley, or by email to citygov@fairmont.org. The city cannot open a new account by telephone, but it can take your deposit payment over the phone with a card or a checking or savings account.
Moving within the service area? You may need a new application and deposit; call City Hall at (507) 238-3920 to discuss and schedule the transfer. Stopping service, and restarting it later, follows the Utility Service Policy (PDF): reconnections happen during working hours, up to 4:30 pm for electric service and 3:00 pm for water.
100 Downtown Plaza
Fairmont, MN 56031
Monday – Friday, 8:00 am – 4:30 pm
To report a street light outage or another utility concern, call billing or email citygov@fairmont.org.
Public Utilities is governed by a five-member commission appointed by the Mayor and approved by the City Council. It serves customers well past the city line, including over 200 rural accounts.
The city Electric Department serves utility customers with power around the clock, maintaining 137 miles of overhead and underground lines, 11 miles of 69KV transmission line, and 3 substations.
Miles Heide, Electric Distribution Superintendent
1120 Marcus Street
(507) 235-6811 · 24-hour emergency (507) 235-6789
Water for the City of Fairmont is supplied by Budd Lake and treated at a $31 million water treatment plant completed in 2013, with 83 miles of water mains across the distribution system.
Brady Powers, Water/Wastewater Superintendent
300 Day Street
The city Wastewater Treatment Plant is an activated sludge system upgraded in 2006, collecting flow through 75 miles of sewer lines and 30 lift stations.
Brady Powers, Water/Wastewater Superintendent
301 E Margaret Street
(507) 235-6502 · 24-hour emergency (507) 235-6789
The stormwater system discharges directly to the chain of lakes, so the city runs a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Program under its Minnesota MS4 permit to protect water quality.
City of Fairmont
100 Downtown Plaza
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