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Securities and Exchange Commission
Washington, DC 20549
FORM 8-K
Current Report
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported) - March 5, 1996
Minnesota Power & Light Company
A Minnesota Corporation
Commission File No. 1-3548
IRS Employer Identification No. 41-0418150
30 West Superior Street
Duluth, Minnesota 55802
Telephone - (218) 722-2641
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Item 5. Other Events.
A. Refund Order to be Reconsidered by Florida Public Service Commission
Responding to a Florida Supreme Court decision addressing the issue of
retroactive ratemaking with respect to another company, on March 5, 1996, the
Florida Public Service Commission (FPSC) voted to reconsider an October 1995
order (Refund Order) which would have required Southern States Utilities, Inc.
(SSU), a wholly owned subsidiary of Minnesota Power & Light Company (Minnesota
Power), to refund about $10 million, including interest, to customers who paid
more since October 1993 under uniform rates than they would have paid under
stand-alone rates. Under the Refund Order, the collection of the $10 million
from customers who paid less under uniform rates would not be permitted. The
Refund Order was in response to the Florida First District Court of Appeals
reversal in April 1995 of the 1993 FPSC order which approved uniform rates
for most of SSU's service areas in Florida. With "uniform rates," all
customers in the uniform rate areas pay the same rates for water and wastewater
services. Uniform rates are an alternative to "stand-alone" rates which are
calculated based on the cost of serving each service area. The FPSC will
reconsider the Refund Order at an undetermined date. SSU continues to believe
that it would be improper for the FPSC to order a refund to one group of
customers without permitting recovery of a similar amount from the remaining
customers since the First District Court of Appeals affirmed SSU's total revenue
requirement for operations in Florida. No provision for refund has been
recorded.
B. Bond Ratings Revised
On March 6, 1996, Standard & Poor's lowered its rating on Minnesota
Power's electric utility first mortgage bonds and secured pollution control
bonds from A- to BBB+. On March 11, 1996, Moody's Investor Services lowered its
rating from A3 to Baa1. The disclosure of these securities ratings is not a
recommendation to buy, sell or hold Minnesota Power's securities.
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Signatures
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
Minnesota Power & Light Company
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(Registrant)
March 11, 1996 D. G. Gartzke
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D. G. Gartzke
Senior Vice President - Finance
and Chief Financial Officer
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