Cooperative · Minnesota · EIA 25177
Dakota Electric Association
Cooperative · Minnesota · 115K customers. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's EIA Form 861, reliability for 2023 shows SAIDI 53 minutes/customer.
Reliability verdict
Dakota Electric Association shows above-average chronic reliability in 2023: 19 minutes SAIDI excluding major events (53 minutes including them) across 115K customers.
- 53 min
- SAIDI 2023
- 0.49
- SAIFI 2023
- 19 min
- SAIDI ex-MED
- 115K
- Customers
Chronic reliability judged on SAIDI excluding major event days when reported (IEEE 1366). Source: EIA Form 861 · August 2026.
Signature read: short interruption minutes vs the 911 utility cohort (≤96 min tercile cut).
What short-outage Dakota Electric Association filings show
Dakota Electric Association is a member-owned electric cooperative operating in Minnesota under EIA identifier 25177. It reports service to approximately 115,355 customer accounts and generated about $0.22 billion in annual electric revenue, with a service footprint spanning 15 ZIP codes. Being member-owned, this cooperative answers to its ratepayers rather than outside shareholders, a structure that tends to influence how rate cases and capital spending get decided.
In 2023, the average Dakota Electric Association customer experienced 53.2 minutes of power interruptions, a measure known as SAIDI, or System Average Interruption Duration Index. Excluding major weather events from that total, that keeps this utility below the typical 120–180 minute national benchmark, consistent with a well-hardened distribution system and fast restoration crews. SAIFI, the average number of outage events per customer, was 0.49 for the same period, so customers statistically faced roughly 0 distinct interruptions that year. Excluding major event days (hurricanes, ice storms), SAIDI drops to 19.2 minutes, the gap between that figure and the headline 53.2 reveals how much weather, not day-to-day infrastructure, drove outages.
The EIA dataset includes 4 years of continuous reporting (2020–2023) for Dakota Electric Association, which lets you see whether reliability is trending up or down rather than judging from a single snapshot. SAIDI climbed from 20.9 to 53.2 minutes over that window, a shift that can point to worsening weather exposure or delayed grid modernization.
Based on this utility's own EIA Form 861 reliability record -- baseline (major-event- excluded) outage duration, total outage duration, and outage frequency -- each benchmarked against every reporting utility nationwide. Not a measure of electricity rates or customer service, which this portal does not track.
53 minutes per customer per year
Annual minutes without electric service (2023)
SAIDI by year (2020-2023)
Minutes per customer-year · EIA Form 861
Year-by-year SAIDI for Dakota Electric Association from the same EIA filings as the table below. Lower is better; major-event years can spike the headline figure.
Dakota Electric Association SAIDI trend
Dakota Electric Association vs the nationwide SAIDI distribution
Where this utility's headline SAIDI sits among every EIA Form 861 utility with a reported figure
53 Among the lowest fewer outage minutes than 82% of 911 utilities
Utilities nationwide, banded by latest reported SAIDI (minutes)
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more utilities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. EIA Form 861 reliability filings · August 2026
Price vs. reliability
Where Dakota Electric Association sits on price vs. reliability
Among the 781 U.S. utilities large enough to report both revenue per customer and a recent outage record, Dakota Electric Association charges more per customer than 9% of them, and is more reliable (lower SAIDI) than 84% of them, placing it in the quadrant where it pays less while still being more reliable, the best-value quadrant. Revenue per customer and outage minutes are independent figures: paying more does not guarantee fewer outages.
Revenue per customer: $1,871/year · Latest SAIDI: 53.2 minutes/year.
SAIDI 2023 breakdown: 53.2 minutes
Reliability Trend (2020–2023)
| Year | SAIDI (min) | SAIDI nMED | SAIFI | Customers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 20.9 | 19.5 | 0.320 | 109,460 |
| 2021 | 57.7 | 21.0 | 0.680 | 111,103 |
| 2022 | 33.4 | 22.8 | 0.700 | 113,304 |
| 2023 | 53.2 | 19.2 | 0.490 | 114,857 |
SAIDI nMED = SAIDI without major event days. Source: EIA Form 861.
Service Area
Dakota Electric Association serves 15 ZIP codes in Minnesota.
Frequently Asked Questions
How reliable is Dakota Electric Association?
Dakota Electric Association had a SAIDI of 53.2 minutes in 2023 including major weather events, but 19.2 minutes excluding them (the industry-standard measure of routine reliability, so the gap traces back to a major storm that year, not a chronic issue). Excluding major weather events, this is below the national average, indicating above-average reliability.
What type of utility is Dakota Electric Association?
Dakota Electric Association is classified as a Cooperative serving Minnesota.
How many customers does Dakota Electric Association serve?
Dakota Electric Association serves approximately 115,355 customers in Minnesota.
How has Dakota Electric Association's reliability changed over time?
Dakota Electric Association has 4 years of reliability data (2020-2023). This utility's SAIDI has stayed fairly flat over the period. Review the trend table above for year-by-year detail.
Utility Profile
- Type
- Cooperative
- State
- Minnesota
- Customers
- 115,355
- Annual Revenue
- $0.22B
- EIA ID
- 25177
Explore
Utilities with similar EIA profiles
Two cross-state peer sets for Dakota Electric Association. Same-state SAIDI neighbors stay in Read-with below; these neighborhoods are nearest other-state utilities with at least 10,000 reported customers.
Similar customer count
Nearest utilities by Form 861 customers (115K here), outside Minnesota.
Similar chronic SAIDI
Nearest utilities by latest SAIDI minutes (53.2 here), outside Minnesota, excluding the customer-peer set.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration Form 861 annual electric power industry survey · ZIP service territory: OpenEI. Disclaimer: informational only, not professional advice. See full disclaimer · methodology.