Xcel Energy shows off new facility on Minnesota Avenue
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — During a thunderstorm or an ice storm, there's always a chance you could lose electricity and nobody likes that.
But one electric company is promising faster response times thanks to its new multi-million dollar state of the art facility in Sioux Falls where they held a ribbon cutting Thursday.
Xcel Energy is on a bit of a 'power trip'.
Major gold find near Spearfish, South Dakota reported
'Xcel Energy has been powering Sioux Falls for over 120 years and we are growing with Sioux Falls,' Xcel Energy CEO Bob Frenzel said.
Today, Xcel showed off its new massive facility along North Minnesota Avenue.
'This is a state-of-the-art facility designed to enable our teams here in Sioux Falls and joining regions to recover from storms quickly, but also to build and construct the infrastructure for all the new businesses and economic development coming to the region,' Frenzel said.
Xcel Energy serves eight states with nearly $105,000 of it's customers just in South Dakota.
This new facility will allow linemen to better prepare for the unexpected if disaster strikes; like during the ice storm back in 2013.
'Obviously when you are getting ready for a storm or you have an outage or anything like that, if you're going to have to load up outside, it's going to take you more time, it's harder on the linemen, it's harder on everyone,' Xcel Energy State Director Steve Kolbeck said.
The new facility is phase one, phase two is going to be renovating the old headquarters where linemen can hold safety and disaster briefings.
During the derechos a few years ago, 23 hundred linemen from other states responded to South Dakota, providing mutual aid.
Now with this new facility, including this huge warehouse, Xcel says it'll be better equipped to keep your lights on if and when disaster strikes.
To learn more about Xcel Energy's new facility or to report an outage, click here.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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