ForgeAsset / Supercharger ROI / North Dakota
Tesla Supercharger ROI in North Dakota
North Dakota's filed rate design does something unusual: Xcel's general-service schedule caps billing demand at monthly energy divided by 100 hours, and at fast-charging utilization that cap always binds — so the demand charge that dominates low-utilization economics elsewhere converts, exactly and by filed arithmetic, into a per-kWh adder. Add the country's oldest personal-property-tax abolition (1969) and a sales-tax exemption on electricity, and the state's structure is simpler than almost anywhere.
What makes North Dakota economics distinct
The demand cap is the whole story
Xcel's D16 schedule bills demand at about $14.54 per kW — but caps billing demand at kWh÷100. A charging site's load factor sits far below the cap's 13.4% breakeven, so billed demand is always kWh÷100 and the demand bill equals about 14.5 cents per kWh, folded into the energy rate. The model carries a single bundled rate near 23 cents with a structural zero on the demand line; where utilization ever exceeded the envelope, the folded rate overstates rather than understates.
No property tax on equipment — since 1969
North Dakota abolished personal property tax outright in 1969. Charging cabinets, dispensers, and switchgear file nothing and owe nothing, against covered states where the same hardware carries $20,000 to $56,000 per year. Electricity is also exempt from state sales tax — only city fees (Fargo 4%, Grand Forks 2%) reach the bill.
Fresh compliance rates, no staleness risk
The modeled rates are the final compliance figures from Xcel's 2024 rate case — ordered February 2026, effective May 2026, with interim overcharges refunded in June. The moving part is the monthly fuel factor, which the library re-derives as a trailing twelve-month average at every refresh.
Fargo needs a parcel-level territory check
Fargo splits between Xcel and Cass County Electric Cooperative at the parcel level — both existing Fargo Superchargers sit on co-op parcels per the city's own GIS. The model resolves the serving utility from the address and states the answer rather than assuming the metro is one territory; Grand Forks and Minot are cleaner Xcel anchors.
Utilities and tariffs modeled in North Dakota
| Utility & tariff | Energy | Demand |
|---|---|---|
| Xcel Energy ND General Service | 23.3¢/kWh flat | none (energy-only) |
Rates are digit-verified against each utility's own filed sheets and update within two weeks of any revision. Full derivations are on the methodology page.
North Dakota tax profile
- Sales tax on hardware: 7.75%
- Business personal property tax: none
- Clean-fuels credit: no program
- Per-kWh charging excise: none
North Dakota tax defaults applied: no clean-fuels credit program exists in North Dakota (the LCFS revenue line is $0), personal property tax was abolished in 1969 (the business personal property line is $0), and LLC costs use the $50/yr annual report. Sales tax defaults to Fargo's 7.75% combined rate; the local components carry per-sale refund caps that a purchaser can reclaim on big-ticket equipment, worth roughly five percentage points — the uncapped rate is the conservative default and the field is editable. No per-kWh charging tax exists in North Dakota.
North Dakota programs and incentives
NEVI (federal, NDDOT-administered)
Roughly $26 million over five years for corridor DC fast charging along I-94 and I-29; the North Dakota DOT administers rounds.
North Dakota charging market
North Dakota carries roughly 7 Supercharger stations along I-94 and I-29 through Fargo, Bismarck, and Grand Forks. Xcel serves Fargo (parcel-split with Cass County Electric), Grand Forks, and Minot; Bismarck is Montana-Dakota Utilities territory, which the model does not yet cover — a pending 14.5% rate case gates that row.
North Dakota Supercharger ROI — questions
- Does North Dakota charge a demand charge on EV charging?
- Structurally yes, effectively no: Xcel's schedule caps billing demand at monthly kWh divided by 100 hours, and a charging site's utilization keeps that cap binding — so the demand charge converts exactly into about 14.5 cents per kWh inside the bundled energy rate, and the model's separate demand line is zero.
- Is charging hardware taxed as property in North Dakota?
- No — North Dakota abolished personal property tax in 1969. The model's business-personal-property line is $0 for North Dakota sites.
- Which utility serves Fargo?
- Both Xcel and Cass County Electric Cooperative, at the parcel level — the city's own GIS shows the existing Fargo Superchargers on co-op parcels. The model resolves the serving utility from the specific address; where it is the co-op, the tool says so rather than applying the wrong tariff.
Sources
- Xcel Energy — North Dakota rate book (Section 5)
- ND PSC — case PU-24-376 (2026 compliance rates)
- N.D.C.C. § 57-39.2-04 — electricity sales-tax exemption
- AFDC — North Dakota laws & incentives for electricity
Model a Tesla V4 Supercharger site in North Dakota — payback, NPV, IRR, and a 15-year cash flow from your own inputs.
Run a North Dakota scenarioOther states: California, North Carolina, Georgia, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Florida, Arizona, Texas, Virginia, Illinois, Michigan, Tennessee, Montana, Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming. Coverage spans nineteen states in total — see the full list.
ForgeAsset is software, not investment, tax, or legal advice — outputs are model estimates from your inputs, not guarantees. Rates and programs current as of research; verify current terms with each source before committing capital.