Otter Tail Power Company

Otter Tail Power's off-peak EV rate is the main tool for EV owners who want to cut charging costs. The utility charges electric vehicles overnight on this off-peak rate rather than on a conventional whole-home time-of-use plan. Energy is delivered only between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.; charging at any other hour is unauthorized and subject to penalty charges. In Minnesota this is the Drive On Electric Vehicle Rate, which the company says costs less than half its standard rate. In North Dakota and South Dakota, EV charging qualifies under the Deferred Load off-peak rider. This structure fits owners who can reliably charge overnight and accept a fixed nightly window.

The $500 rebate for a hardwired Level 2 home charger is tied directly to enrollment on a qualified off-peak rate: Dual Fuel, Deferred Load, Fixed Time of Delivery, Residential Demand Control, or the Minnesota Electric Vehicle Charging Rate. The off-peak rate and the charger rebate are designed to stack. Separately, Otter Tail offers customer rebates toward vehicle purchases: $3,000 toward a new EV, $1,500 toward a new plug-in hybrid or used EV, and $750 toward a used plug-in hybrid. The charger rebate and purchase rebates are available across all three states.

Otter Tail is a rural investor-owned utility regulated separately by the Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota commissions, so program availability and rate names vary by state line even within one service area. The off-peak structure reflects the company's long history with off-peak and stored-heat load control, which it has extended to EV charging. The utility also operates its own network of public chargers across small towns in its territory, priced separately from these residential rates.