Municipal · South Dakota · EIA 20187
Watertown Municipal Utilities
Municipal · South Dakota · 14K customers. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's EIA Form 861, reliability for 2023 shows SAIDI 7 minutes/customer.
Reliability verdict
Watertown Municipal Utilities shows above-average chronic reliability in 2023: 7 minutes SAIDI excluding major events across 14K customers.
- 7 min
- SAIDI 2023
- 0.10
- SAIFI 2023
- 7 min
- SAIDI ex-MED
- 14K
- 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 Watertown Municipal Utilities filings show
Watertown Municipal Utilities is a municipally-owned utility operating in South Dakota under EIA identifier 20187. It reports service to approximately 13,993 customer accounts and generated about $0.03 billion in annual electric revenue, with a service footprint spanning 1 ZIP code. Being municipally owned, the utility answers to a local board or city council rather than a state commission, and carries a federal income tax exemption.
In 2023, the average Watertown Municipal Utilities customer experienced 7.4 minutes of power interruptions, the industry-standard SAIDI metric (System Average Interruption Duration Index). 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 0.10 for the same period, so customers statistically faced roughly 0 distinct interruptions that year. Excluding major event days (hurricanes, ice storms), SAIDI drops to 7.4 minutes, the gap between that figure and the headline 7.4 reveals how much weather, not day-to-day infrastructure, drove outages.
With 4 consecutive years of EIA data (2020–2023), Watertown Municipal Utilities's reliability record can be judged on trend rather than one isolated year. Over that window, SAIDI moved from 14.9 down to 7.4 minutes, a trend worth noting for anyone weighing capital investment outcomes.
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.
7 outage minutes per customer annually
Annual minutes without electric service (2023)
SAIDI by year (2020-2023)
Minutes per customer-year · EIA Form 861
Year-by-year SAIDI for Watertown Municipal Utilities from the same EIA filings as the table below. Lower is better; major-event years can spike the headline figure.
Watertown Municipal Utilities SAIDI trend
Watertown Municipal Utilities vs the nationwide SAIDI distribution
Where this utility's headline SAIDI sits among every EIA Form 861 utility with a reported figure
7 Among the lowest fewer outage minutes than 97% 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 Watertown Municipal Utilities sits on price vs. reliability
Among the 781 U.S. utilities large enough to report both revenue per customer and a recent outage record, Watertown Municipal Utilities charges more per customer than 35% of them, and is more reliable (lower SAIDI) than 98% 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: $2,295/year · Latest SAIDI: 7.4 minutes/year.
SAIDI 2023 breakdown: 7.4 minutes
Reliability Trend (2020–2023)
| Year | SAIDI (min) | SAIDI nMED | SAIFI | Customers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 14.9 | 14.9 | 0.170 | 13,272 |
| 2021 | 9.8 | 0.0 | 0.105 | 13,421 |
| 2022 | 12.2 | 0.0 | 0.161 | 13,819 |
| 2023 | 7.4 | 7.4 | 0.100 | 14,220 |
SAIDI nMED = SAIDI without major event days. Source: EIA Form 861.
Service Area
Watertown Municipal Utilities serves 1 ZIP code in South Dakota.
Frequently Asked Questions
How reliable is Watertown Municipal Utilities?
Watertown Municipal Utilities had a SAIDI of 7.4 minutes in 2023. Excluding major storm impacts, this beats the national average, a sign of above-average reliability.
What type of utility is Watertown Municipal Utilities?
Watertown Municipal Utilities is classified as a Municipal serving South Dakota.
How many customers does Watertown Municipal Utilities serve?
Watertown Municipal Utilities serves approximately 13,993 customers in South Dakota.
How has Watertown Municipal Utilities's reliability changed over time?
Watertown Municipal Utilities has 4 years of reliability data (2020-2023). SAIDI has held roughly steady across these years. Review the trend table above for year-by-year detail.
Utility Profile
- Type
- Municipal
- State
- South Dakota
- Customers
- 13,993
- Annual Revenue
- $0.03B
- EIA ID
- 20187
Explore
Utilities with similar EIA profiles
Two cross-state peer sets for Watertown Municipal Utilities. 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 (14K here), outside South Dakota.
Similar chronic SAIDI
Nearest utilities by latest SAIDI minutes (7.4 here), outside South Dakota, 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.