XCEL ENERGY

Hundreds of sheep grazing at Xcel’s Sherco Solar site in Clear Lake

Shay Lelonek — Fri, 30 May 2025 11:00:00 GMT

CLEAR LAKE, Minn. — Six hundred sheep have started grazing the prairie on Xcel Energy’s Sherco Solar 1 site in Sherburne County.

On Thursday, May 29, Minnesota Native Landscapes brought a second truck of ewes and lambs onto the Sherco Solar 1 energy plant in Clear Lake. The first load of sheep was brought in May 9, and they’ve already cut down a large portion of the grass on the north side of the plant, according to Jodee Nohner, Minnesota Native Landscapes’ grazing program coordinator.

Sherco officials invited the media Thursday to see the sheep and hear about the grazing program on the 1,400-acre property — and even bottle-feed a pair of baby lambs, Bob and Rob.

Luke Molus, Xcel Energy’s operations manager, said Sherco Solar 1 is the first Xcel plant to partner with Minnesota Native Landscapes, an ecological restoration company based in Otsego that specializes in bio-engineering, native seeding and solar energy projects, according to its website, mnlcorp.com.

The sheep will be used as an energy-sustainable, cost-effective alternative to mowing and spraying, officials said. Since sheep eat a wide variety of plants, they will also protect the prairie from invasive species of weeds at the infant stage so they don’t flower and reproduce, according to Nohner.

With the addition of the second flock, there are about 600 ewes on site, plus an unknown number of lambs. About 1,500 ewes and lambs are expected to be on-site by the end of the summer, according to Briana Beck, Minnesota Native Landscapes’ project supervisor.

Every two weeks, the sheep will be rotated around the grounds, ensuring they cut down the vegetation throughout the entire area, making it easier for workers to access the solar equipment.

As project development moves forward and Xcel enters phases 2 and 3 of the Sherco Solar plant, the number of sheep will increase to cover the additional land, Nohner said.

Minnesota Native Landscapes breeds many of the sheep they use. They also partner with local farmers. According to Nohner, Minnesota Native Landscapes will sometimes lease a farmer’s sheep or let the farmers release their sheep onto the plants they manage.

Beck said that, ideally, the sheep will stay on-site throughout the winter. However, if the snow gets too deep and the sheep can’t get through, Minnesota Native Landscapes will bring the sheep back to the farm to ensure they stay fed during the colder seasons.

Sherco Solar 1 is the first phase of a larger solar energy project, according to a Sherco news release. The project is expected to generate 710 megawatts of energy. Phase 2 is expected to be complete in the fall of 2025, and phase 3 will be operational in the fall of 2026, according to Nohner.

Sherco Solar 1 is performing better than the organization expected it to, Molus said. The site generates approximately 223 megawatts of energy on a sunny day.

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Xcel Energy Center will lose moniker as original naming rights deal ends

Frederick Melo / St. Paul Pioneer Press — Wed, 16 Apr 2025 18:28:19 GMT

ST. PAUL — It’s finally official: In downtown St. Paul, the Xcel Energy Center is losing the name Xcel Energy as the utility’s $3 million-per-year naming rights agreement dries up this summer after a 25-year run.

The Minneapolis-based company announced Tuesday that it will continue to be involved in the home of the Minnesota Wild through online and in-arena advertising, as well as grants to youth and high school hockey organizations, but the “X” will have to soldier on without Xcel in the title for the first time since its construction in 2000.

Other corporate sponsors

As Wild owner Craig Leipold and city officials continue to pitch what they hope will be a $769 million reinvention of the entire arena, concert and convention center facility, will a corporate sponsor step up to buy naming rights and help usher the multipurpose arena into the future?

You betcha.

The Twin Cities is home to 17 Fortune 500 companies and others, like Securian, on the border of making the list, a relatively strong showing per capita for a Midwestern metro. That leaves the door open to a number of potential corporate partners interested in making their name synonymous with “The State of Hockey.”

Pioneer Press sports columnist Charley Walters reported last year that Securian and Royal Bank of Canada had done more than just kick the tires on a potential naming rights agreement, “and a handful of other firms are seriously interested.”

Xcel Energy has been the title sponsor for the X under an $80 million agreement, worth about $3 million per year for the past 25 years. The next agreement could, according to Walters, total as much as $10 million per year for the next 25 years.

If the Wild have a corporate ally in mind, they were playing coy on Tuesday, refusing to divulge specifics beyond a written announcement that the team “expects to announce a new arena naming rights partner before the start of the 2025-26 NHL season.”

A spokesman for the Wild, which manages the arena and convention center on behalf of the city, said they would have no further comment.

Xcel to remain long-term partner

While dropping out of the arena title, Xcel Energy will remain involved as a long-term partner, according to a joint announcement from the team and the energy company, which plans to launch an initiative dubbed “Community Power Play” to expand access to the sport for children and families throughout the state.

The program will provide grants to youth and high school hockey organizations, with a focus on financial assistance for young athletes, the purchase of equipment and ice time, and investments in and improvement of community-based rinks and facilities open to all residents.

Bob Frenzel, Xcel Energy chairman, president and chief executive officer, released a written statement on Tuesday noting that “25 years ago, the Minnesota Wild and Xcel Energy were new brands in the region. Today, these two brands have become embedded in our community and our culture.”

“This new chapter with the Wild extends our commitment to the region and will serve to expand access to the sport of hockey so that more young girls and boys across the state can access and more fully engage in this wonderful sport,” he said.

Plans for $769M in improvements

Alongside a new name, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter and Leipold, the team owner, hope to reinvent the arena itself, as well as the adjoining RiverCentre Convention Center and Roy Wilkins Auditorium.

The two appeared shoulder to shoulder in committee hearings before House and Senate lawmakers last month, pitching plans for $769 million in improvements.

Those improvements will rely on nearly $400 million in state appropriations bonds, as well as funding from the team, the city, Ramsey County and corporate sponsors.

Among the improvements, Leipold told lawmakers the Xcel renovation will create new types of seating areas more in line with modern demand, including low-cost, lounge-style community viewing rooms.

The mayor has released conceptual renderings and talked up plans of better connecting the arena to Rice Park and the Landmark Center with more public-facing amenities, such as exterior coffee shops. Under the title “Project Wow,” the Wild have attempted to lure the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame from Eveleth, Minnesota, to downtown St. Paul.

The arena and overall convention center campus, according to the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce, together draw nearly 2 million visitors to some 400 annual events. Those visits generate nearly $500 million in economic impact between spending, state and local sales tax, hotel stays and more.

The renovations could boost that spending by another $110 million, according to the chamber.

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Minnesota lawmakers revisit efforts to lift state’s nuclear moratorium

Mary Murphy — Thu, 30 Jan 2025 20:50:25 GMT

ST. PAUL — Two bipartisan bills aimed at repealing Minnesota’s nuclear moratorium went before the Senate Energy, Utilities, Environment and Climate Committee on Wednesday, Jan. 29.

One of the bills, SF350, aims to lift the moratorium entirely, clearing the way for construction of all-new nuclear power plants. The other, SF468, focuses specifically on authorizing the development of small, modular nuclear reactors.

The bill to authorize small nuclear reactors died in committee, but the legislation to lift the moratorium was “laid over” for possible inclusion in the omnibus bill. Although both bills had DFL support originally, after hearing testimony from the Prairie Island Indian Community, Democrat Senators said on Wednesday that they weren't ready to vote on the matter.

Minnesota’s 30-year-old nuclear moratorium, prompted by environmental concerns about nuclear waste, passed in 1994 and stopped the construction of any nuclear power plants since, leaving the state to rely on two plants built in the 1970s.

The two plants — Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant near Red Wing, and Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant near Monticello — account for 21% of Minnesota’s electricity as of 2023, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The Prairie Island reservation is less than 700 yards from over 1,000 tons of nuclear waste generated from the plant, Blake Johnson, a Tribal member of the Prairie Island community, told the committee on Wednesday. Johnson also said that his community is the closest community, native or non-native, in the nation to a nuclear plant and stored nuclear waste.

“In our history, we've been forced to live next to a nuclear plant,” Johnson said. “If this were your community's history, I would imagine you'd be hearing from your constituents as a part of this discussion. They might ask, what the risk of an accident or an emergency is to their community? They might contemplate a scenario where they leave for work but don't get to come home due to radiation leak.”

Johnson said that while he appreciates the conversations he’s had with the chief author of the bill, Sen. Andrew Mathews, R-Princeton, his tribe is not ready to support the bill and said it is a no vote “today.”

“I just want to point out we have tough choices to make on energy and we don't have a simple silver bullet, or we would already be firing it,” Sen. Nick Frentz, DFL-North Mankato, said. “I hope everyone agrees that this has been a positive conversation headed in the right direction but I hope that we can find a path with Prairie Island on board, and it will take that to get my yes vote.”

Sen. John Hoffman, DFL-Champlin mirrored Frentz’s comments, saying he suggests they table lifting the moratorium until the Island community is on board.

“I'm supportive, but Prairie Island needs to have this conversation first,” Hoffman said. “The timing on it just doesn't seem fitting for me. I will not do anything without the consent of the elders of the island.”

Mathews said this legislation is critical to meet the Carbon Free Electricity by 2040 goal passed by Gov. Tim Walz in 2023, which means all electricity used in the state should come from sources that do not produce carbon emissions like solar, wind, hydro and nuclear power.

“I’m disappointed to see partisanship emerge when there has been considerable work over the last several years to build bipartisan support,” Matthews said. “Minnesotans deserve access to affordable and reliable energy, and by failing to advance a bill they claim to support, Democrats are making it harder to provide reliable energy that meets their carbon-free energy goals.”

The Senate Committee also heard a bill that could modify large-scale hydropower projects to be counted as carbon-free. Currently, the “carbon-free” hydropower projects are capped at 100 megawatts, this bill, SF426, aims to expand that to help accomplish the 2040 goals.

House Republicans also said they plan to introduce legislation that would lift the nuclear moratorium, but after the Supreme Court order on Friday, Jan. 24, Republicans are not allowed to introduce any bills or hold committees with only 67 members present and 66 Democrats boycotting.

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After feedback, Xcel changes plan to charge more for electricity during peak hours

Kirsti Marohn / MPR News — Fri, 23 Aug 2024 00:21:53 GMT

Xcel Energy is modifying its controversial proposal to charge customers significantly more for electricity they use during peak times of the day.

Minnesota’s largest electric utility had proposed charging variable rates to better reflect the actual cost of delivering electricity during high-demand periods, reduce strain on the electric grid and potentially eliminate the need to build new power plants.

Xcel said its goal was to get customers to shift their electricity use to off-peak periods when energy is more affordable to generate and deliver. It planned to enroll all residential customers in the time-of-use rate program unless they chose to opt out.

But the proposal met with pushback from some Xcel customers and consumer advocates. They said the price difference between peak and off-peak rates was too large, and some customers might not be able to change their energy use to avoid higher bills.

The initial proposal would have charged roughly seven times more for using electricity during summer peak hours than off-peak periods.

In a filing with the state Public Utilities Commission, Xcel said after collecting feedback, it’s modifying the plan and making it voluntary for customers to opt in, instead of the default.

Its new plan shortens the peak period and shifts it later to 7-10 p.m. weekdays, instead of 3-8 p.m. as originally proposed. There’s also smaller price difference between peak and off-peak rates.

Electricity will still be cheapest from midnight to 6 a.m., when there’s an abundance of available wind energy.

Xcel says it plans to educate customers about the time-of-use rate program and its potential benefits.

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Xcel Energy, state of Minnesota offer year-round financial assistance programs

Staff reports — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 13:21:00 GMT

MOORHEAD — While cold-weather financial assistance programs are ending for the season, the state of Minnesota and Xcel Energy both offer year-round financial assistance programs.

Xcel Energy, in a press release issued Monday, April 29, encouraged customers in need of financial assistance as spring begins to reach out to the company.

Minnesota’s cold-weather rule helps protect residential energy customers from electric or gas service disconnections if it affects their primary heating source. The rule runs from Oct. 1 to April 30 each year.

The Minnesota Energy Assistance Program pays up to $2,000 toward heat, power and water costs or repairing or replacing a broken heating system for eligible households, the release said. Information about the program is available at mn.gov/EnergyAssistance.

Eligible households may also qualify for additional energy efficiency and conservation programs through Xcel Energy, the release said.

To set up pay arrangements, customers can talk with customer care agents or use Xcel’s automated phone system by calling 1-800-895-4999, the release said. For more information on energy assistance, affordability programs, payment options and energy-saving tips, customers can call Xcel Energy or visit xcelenergy.com/EnergyAssistance.

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Xcel Energy hopes charging more during peak hours will encourage customers to shift energy use

Kirsti Marohn / MPR News — Wed, 10 Apr 2024 16:01:57 GMT

ST. PAUL — Running the air conditioner on hot summer afternoons or starting a load of laundry after dinner could get more expensive for Xcel Energy’s residential customers in Minnesota.

If state regulators approve Xcel’s plan, the state’s largest electric utility would charge variable electric rates at different times. Rates would be highest during the peak period from 3 to 8 p.m. on weekdays, and cheapest every night from midnight to 6 a.m. Other hours would be a base rate.

Many utilities already offer voluntary programs and incentives to customers who reduce their energy use at certain times. But Xcel’s plan would be the default for all its residential customers, unless they choose to opt out.

“What’s behind the thinking is really trying to drive behavior changes and usage changes, and getting customers to shift their usage to those off-peak periods where energy is more affordable and it’s actually cheaper to generate and deliver,” said Ryan Long, Xcel’s president in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Time-of-use rates would better reflect the actual cost of delivering energy during those high-demand periods, Long said. Potentially, they could allow Xcel to avoid building a new power plant to meet peak demand, he said.

Charging customers variable electric rates isn’t a new concept. California and other states have been using time-of-use rates for years to address summer peaks. Xcel is partway through rolling out the pricing plan to its Colorado customers. Minnesota Power also is gradually adopting default time-of-day rates for its customers.

Xcel’s plan has attracted attention in part because of the sizable gap between rates. Customers will pay seven times more per kilowatt hour for electricity during peak hours on summer weekdays than during the off-peak period.

Other utilities offer voluntary programs and incentives to encourage customers to use less energy during peak times. Some rural electric cooperatives have programs that refund customers if they agree to scale back their electricity use on high-demand days.

When everybody is using electricity at the same time — as on hot summer days, when many people are using air conditioning — it strains the electrical grid, and costs more to generate and deliver power, said Matt Grimley, a research fellow at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Science, Technology and Environmental Policy.

“What time-of-use rates do is try to match that cost with a price signal that says, ‘Try not to use energy when it costs so much to deliver to the home,’ ” he said. “Instead, try to use energy when not as many people are using it.”

Experts say efforts to manage the demand side of power will be vital as Minnesota and the nation shift to renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, that are less controllable than fossil fuels.

That can make it harder for utilities to match the amount of electricity they generate with the times when it’s most in demand, said Isabel Ricker, clean electricity program director with the nonprofit Fresh Energy.

“We tend to have an overabundance of very cheap wind energy overnight,” she said. “And unfortunately, there aren’t a whole lot of customers using a lot of power overnight.”

Time-of-use rates can help by getting some customers to shift their energy use to those nighttime hours, when wind farms are producing lots of cheap and clean power, Ricker said.

If enough people reduce their peak energy use, it can save costs and potentially avoid utilities having to build new “peaking” plants, which are often fueled by natural gas, she said.

Time-of-use rates can help align the price customers pay for electricity with the actual cost of generating and delivering it, said Annie Levenson-Falk, executive director of the Citizens Utility Board of Minnesota, which advocates for utility customers.

CUB hasn’t taken a position yet on Xcel’s plan. But Levenson-Falk said time-of-use rates could more fairly price the electricity customers are using. She cited a Chicago-area study that found lower-income households tend to use less peak energy.

“If everybody is paying a flat electric rate at all times of day, what that means is that lower-income households are actually paying probably more than their fair share of the electric system,” she said. “They’re actually subsidizing their higher-income neighbors.”

Xcel tested time-of-use rates in a two-year pilot project with about 10,000 customers in south Minneapolis and Eden Prairie.

The results showed a modest shift in customers’ electric usage and a resulting decline in their energy bills, Long said. Xcel officials concluded they might be able to encourage more shifting by differentiating the rates more, he said, which led to the current proposal.

Xcel’s plan has generated a lot of public comments to state regulators, many critical. Some said it will negatively impact people who can’t avoid using energy during the five-hour peak period.

Brenna Brosch, of Chanhassen, said her first reaction was the tiered pricing seems like a good plan.

“You want people to use electricity efficiently so that you’re not drawing too much at one time, and then you have a lot of resources into generating it just for one point in the day,” she said.

But Brosch isn’t sure it’s realistic to expect people to wait to wash clothes or run their dishwasher until after midnight, especially if their appliances don’t have time-delay features.

If Xcel Energy’s goal is to have people change their energy-using behavior, “I don’t know how the average person is going to take advantage of that,” she said.

For some, the plan could help cut their electric bills. That includes Alex Adams, who charges his electric vehicle mostly at night at his St. Anthony home. Adams figures Xcel’s plan would cut his charging costs roughly in half.

But he knows not everyone will be happy about the changes.

“Frankly, for most people, the rate design will probably increase their bills, if they don’t change their behavior, which is kind of the whole point,” Adams said.

Xcel has said the average residential customer is unlikely to see much change in their electric bill under the new plan. If the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission approves it, the new rates likely would take effect in 2025.

Advocates say communicating the details to customers will be key, so they understand how they can cut their peak energy use and their utility bills. Offering customers incentives or rebates to buy “smart” thermostats or programmable appliances also could help more people take advantage of potential savings, Ricker said.

Amy Liberkowski, Xcel’s regional vice president of regulatory and pricing, noted that today’s technology offers many more ways for utilities to provide information to customers.

“We have more tools available so customers can find out in real time what their energy usage is,” she said. “We think that it’s just a good opportunity now to provide them tools to control their bills.”

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Minnesota regulators cut community solar bill credits to save money for Xcel customers

Walker Orenstein / Star Tribune — Fri, 16 Feb 2024 20:06:00 GMT

Minnesota utility regulators on Thursday, Feb. 15 cut bill credits — and thus, savings — for subscribers to more than 700 community solar gardens in a plan estimated to save roughly $40 million a year for Xcel Energy customers.

The 5-0 decision by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission was fiercely contested by solar garden operators and subscribers, including many cities, counties and schools who said they would lose significant expected savings because of the decision.

But Joseph Sullivan, vice chairman of the PUC, said the formula used to calculate the relevant bill credits overestimates the value of small-scale solar power from the program, making it too expensive for Xcel customers who pay for the program even if they don't subscribe to a community solar garden.

"The impact on non-participants right now is so significant that we have to act, that's what it was," Sullivan said after the meeting that drew a full room of bystanders.

The Legislature created the solar garden program in 2013 as an alternative to rooftop solar. It allows Xcel customers to subscribe to third-party solar operators. In return, subscribers get a bill credit from the utility for energy Xcel must take from those solar gardens.

The bill credits are determined by state law and policy and have changed over time. But in May, the PUC asked Xcel to develop a plan to switch about 740 community solar gardens — the large majority under the program — from an early formula to a newer one that covers many newer gardens. That formula incorporates things like avoided transmission costs and environmental benefits to calculate a value of power from the smaller solar.

What Xcel eventually proposed would have saved $48 million in bill credits each year, money that would flow to the utility's customers.

Sullivan and his fellow PUC commissioners were not the only one to voice concerns about the program cost. Xcel, trade unions, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and the clean power nonprofit Fresh Energy are among those who argued the price should be reined in.

With no changes, community solar was expected to cost $329 million in 2024, and 93% of that would be paid by Xcel ratepayers in Minnesota. The average residential customer would pay about $7 a month for community solar in 2024, compared with $4 in 2022.

The program has defenders who credit community solar as bringing many benefits like growing a solar industry beyond what Xcel has done. And the idea of reducing bill credit rates drew opposition from the Minnesota Department of Commerce, and sharp backlash from subscribers, including hundreds of residential customers and a wide array of cities, counties and school districts who wrote to the PUC saying they would lose expected savings and in some cases owe money to garden operators.

The governments included big cities and institutions like Minneapolis, St. Paul, St. Cloud and the University of Minnesota, as well as smaller ones like Winona, Northfield, Sauk Rapids and the Rocori school district.

Chanhassen was one city to weigh in, saying it relied on expected savings in budgeting and planning and the projected cash was meant to ease property taxes.

"If the commission approves this change, we will stand to lose approximately [$750,000] in projected savings, which would be an approximately 88 percent reduction," wrote city manager Laurie Hokkanen.

About 25% of bill credits from solar gardens that will be switched to the new formula flow to governments, 16% to public schools, 13% to hospitals, clinics, churches and private schools and 17% go to residential customers, according to Commerce. Roughly 28% of bill credits benefit private businesses and other subscribers.

Solar developers also argued the switch would chill clean energy production in Minnesota. Most subscribers sign 25-year contracts based on the bill credit rate, and the Minnesota Solar Energy Industries Association and others said changing those credits midstream would cause legal headaches and uncertainty for the industry.

Cooperative Energy Futures was one of several developers who warned subscribers would ditch their ARR gardens, making at least some of them insolvent.

"I'm sure that we as a regulatory community can come up with better ways to save ratepayers money than to make this change which will have a dramatic effect on ability to attract investment to Minnesota," said Betsy Engelking, vice president of policy for the Minneapolis developer National Grid Renewables, during the PUC hearing Thursday.

Fresh Energy and Ellison asked the PUC to take a middle-ground approach to soften the blow on certain subscribers like residential customers. However, Fresh Energy pushed back on the idea that keeping savings for some local governments was more important than reducing costs for Xcel customers.

"It is much fairer for taxpayers to pay for local services through their taxes than it is for all of Xcel's ratepayers, no matter where they live, to pay well above the value of [community solar garden] generation in order to fund public services in select jurisdictions that subscribed," wrote Allen Gleckner, the nonprofit's executive lead for policy and programs, in a letter to the PUC.

Xcel did not take a stance on the proposal regulators asked it develop. The company estimated its original plan would save the average residential customers $12.31 a year.

What the PUC approved would have a more favorable rate than the original Xcel plan for residential and small business subscribers, though bill credits would still be less than in the current structure. Large commercial subscribers like cities and bigger business will essentially switch over the the new formula as Xcel proposed but get a slightly smaller cut in the first year of the transition.

Xcel and PUC staff estimated the decision would save Xcel ratepayers between $28 million and $30 million in 2025 and between $38 million and $41 million after that — eventually adding up to more than $600 million over time.

Also on Thursday, Attorney General Keith Ellison said he secured in legal settlements $85,000 for customers of four Minnesota community solar garden operators who charged early termination fees Ellison said were unlawful. The companies were FastSun Solar, Cypress Creek Renewables, Generate Capital and Global Atlantic Financial Group Limited.

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Xcel Energy seeks to keep Minnesota nuclear plants open through 2050

Kirsti Marohn / MPR News — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 13:57:00 GMT

Xcel Energy is proposing to keep operating its two Minnesota nuclear plants until the early 2050s.

In a resource plan filed with state regulators on Thursday, Feb. 1, the Minneapolis-based utility also proposed adding new wind and solar energy and battery storage. It also calls for adding more “always available” energy — likely natural gas — to provide backup electricity during times of peak demand.

Ryan Long, president of Xcel in Minnesota, North and South Dakota, said Xcel is on track to reduce its carbon emissions by as much as 88 percent by 2030, from 2005 levels. The utility previously announced a goal of being carbon-free by 2050.

“We see this plan as really charting a path towards delivering on that vision,” he said. In addition, a new Minnesota law requires utilities to get 100 percent of their electricity from carbon-free sources by 2040.

In Minnesota, large utilities are required about every two years to file an integrated resource plan, which outlines how they plan to generate electricity for the next 15 years. Xcel is Minnesota’s largest electric utility, serving about 1.3 million customers in the state.

Its latest resource plan calls for extending the life of its two nuclear units at Prairie Island by 20 years, until 2053 and 2054. It wants to extend the Monticello nuclear plant’s license to 2050.

Long said the nuclear plants are critical to providing reliable, carbon-free energy for Xcel’s Upper Midwest customers.

“We’re really confident that they’re positioned well to continue operating and doing so for our customers past 2050,” he said.

New generating facilities

The plan doesn’t change Xcel’s timeline for shuttering its remaining coal plants in Minnesota by 2030. It also calls for adding 3,600 megawatts of new wind and solar facilities and 600 megawatts of battery energy storage.

That includes a planned iron-air battery project in Becker, which will store energy produced by a large solar project Xcel is currently building.

“This is going to be one of the first resource plans where we’re actually proposing to build battery storage in the action period of our plan in the first five years,” Long said. That also could include lithium-ion batteries, he said, although the plan doesn’t specify locations.

Xcel’s plan also calls for adding more so-called dispatchable energy that can backup renewable sources when they’re not available. The utility previously proposed building two natural gas combustion cycle plants in Lyon County and Fargo, N.D.

“We don’t expect them to run very often,” Long said. “They will sit on our system and provide needed energy on the hottest days of the summer and coldest days of the winter, when we really need them for critical reliability.”

Clean energy advocates have supported Xcel’s plans to move away from burning coal toward carbon-free energy sources, such as wind and solar.

“We are very excited to see the larger amount of investment they've proposed in battery storage,” said Isabel Ricker, clean electricity program director with the nonprofit advocacy group Fresh Energy. “That’s a really important tool in our decarbonization toolbox.”

However, some environmental groups have questioned the need for new natural gas plants, which they argue will produce carbon emissions and won’t be needed as clean energy and storage become more affordable.

Ricker said Fresh Energy will be looking into whether Xcel could meet that peak demand with its other gas plants, or through a combination of renewable energy, battery storage and programs that encourage customers to shift their energy use to times when demand isn’t as high.

“The more money we put into a new fossil resource, we’re going to be paying for that for at least 40 years,” Ricker said. “And it might be money we would be better off spending on a carbon-free resource.”

More review

The resources plan requires the approval of the state Public Utilities Commission, after public hearings and extensive review. Extending the licenses of the nuclear plants would also require federal approval.

Whether the aging nuclear plants can continue to operate safely for another three decades is likely to be a point of debate. Also, extending the lives of both plants would require additional long-term storage of radioactive nuclear waste.

The two units of the Prairie Island plant near Red Wing have been operating since 1973 and 1974.

The Monticello plant, about 40 miles northwest of the Twin Cities, has been operating since 1971. Xcel is already seeking an extension of the plant’s federal license, which is set to expire in 2030.

In Nov. 2022, a broken pipe at the Monticello plant caused a leak of water containing tritium, a mildly radioactive form of hydrogen that occurs naturally in the environment, and also during nuclear power production. The utility didn’t make the leak public until March, although it did notify state and federal officials.

Xcel said the leak may have started a few weeks earlier than it first reported, and released between 750,000 and 900,000 gallons of tritium-tainted water, about double the amount it originally estimated. It temporarily shut down the plant in March to repair the leak. Xcel and state health officials have said there’s no imminent public health risk.

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Natural gas customers encouraged to conserve energy during this national winter storm

West Central Tribune staff report — Sat, 13 Jan 2024 12:44:00 GMT

WILLMAR — Xcel Energy is encouraging customers to conserve energy, due to an increase in wholesale gas prices that is expected to last a few days as cold weather will spread across most of the U.S.

The cold weather is expected to affect the production and demand for natural gas, which Xcel Energy purchases to deliver to customers and to generate electricity.

According to a press release Friday from the company, Xcel stated that while supply and demand have increased the price of wholesale gas, the increase expected will be significantly smaller than the increase in price in 2021 during Winter Storm Uri.

Xcel said the biggest step customers can take to conserve energy is to lower their thermostats a few degrees if they have a natural gas furnace. Xcel recommends people to set their thermostats between 65 and 70 degrees while they’re home, and 58 degrees if they’re away.

Open blinds can also take advantage of the sun's warmth during the day. Closing them at night will also help insulate against the cold air outside. Ceiling fans can also be run so warm air near the ceiling is forced down.

Clean air filters also go a long way in reducing the work required by a furnace to heat a home. Xcel says replacing the air filter once a month during the winter season can reduce heating costs by as much as 15%.

As always, if you smell a scent like sulfur or rotten eggs in or near the home, leave immediately and do not turn on or off any electrical devices, as it could be a possible gas leak. Go outside and call Xcel Energy at 1-800-895-2999 to report the problem. In a life threatening emergency call 911.

More tips can be found on the Energy Savings Tips page at xcelenergy.com.

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Companies file plans for new transmission project from SD to Sherburne County

Trent Abrego — Wed, 04 Oct 2023 17:59:09 GMT

SHERBURNE COUNTY — A number of Midwest energy companies have filed plans with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission for a transmission project ranging from northeast South Dakota to Minnesota.

It’s a 345-kilovolt project consisting of two segments ranging from Big Stone substation in South Dakota to Big Oaks substation near Becker in Sherburne County. The transmission line would also run through Stearns County.

The eastern segment through Minnesota, from Alexandria to Becker, would string a new transmission circuit primarily on existing structures that were originally built as part of the CapX2020 Fargo-St. Cloud and St. Cloud-Monticello project, according to a news release. The existing structures run mainly along Interstate 94, according to Great River Energy.

More than 95% of the eastern segment will not require changes to the existing transmission line, which began in 2015, according to a news release. This most recent project also calls for a new substation on Xcel Energy property near the Sherco power plant in Becker.

The western segment of the project is proposed from Big Stone to Alexandria.

Participants in the project include Great River Energy, Minnesota Power, Missouri River Energy Services, Otter Tail Power Company and Xcel Energy.

The Public Utilities Commission will review the energy companies’ proposal, which typically takes about a year and includes opportunities for input from customers, landowners and stakeholders. If approved, construction would begin in late 2024 with an expected completion by the end of 2025.

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