21-02-2025
Xcel reveals major investment in renewables, will meet carbon-free target 5 years early
Xcel Energy is on track to speed up its investment in renewable energy, confirming in its latest submission to regulators that it will meet Minnesota's carbon-free law five years before the 2040 deadline.
The state's largest electric utility re-affirmed plans to shut down its remaining coal plants – Sherco and Allen S. King – by 2030, according to a new electricity supply plan approved by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.
The updated Upper Midwest Energy Plan includes new investments in battery energy storage systems, wind and solar power, and a natural-gas fired power plant. It also aims to extend the lives of Xcel's two carbon-free nuclear plants in Monticello and Prairie Island.
The plan is expected to reduce carbon emissions from 2005 levels by 80% by 2030, with the potential of reaching up to 88%, according to the company.
To achieve that, Xcel will add 3,430 more megawatts of wind energy by 2030, connecting to the Upper Midwest grid at the Sherco plant site in Becker, Minnesota using the proposed Minnesota Energy Connection transmission line.
It will also add 550 megawatts of grid-scaled solar energy at the Allen S. King site in Oak Park Heights, and 900 megawatts of battery energy storage across the state.
The investments will mean that renewable energy could comprise around 63% of Xcel's energy generation in the Upper Midwest, which the Star Tribune notes includes wind, solar, hydro, biomass and energy-from-waste plants.
This renewable energy supply, and the removal of coal from its energy portfolio, will be supplemented by the extended life of its nuclear plants, and also a new, hydrogen-capable natural gas-fired power plant in Lyon County. The latter will "supply power during critical times while also providing grid stability for the proposed Minnesota Energy Connection transmission line."
'Our plan positions us to advance our clean energy vision by adding wind and solar resources while reinforcing the reliability of the grid with battery storage and clean natural gas,' said Ryan Long, president of Xcel Energy — Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota.
'By working together with the Commission and our stakeholders, we'll meet the unprecedented growth in electricity demand in our region, invest in our communities, and maintain reliable and resilient service for our customers.'
Xcel says it will aim to keep costs low for customers by "unlocking federal tax credit savings for clean energy generation and energy storage.
The updated plan follows consultation with state departments, environmental groups and developers, with Xcel saying its new plan will mean lower bill increases from customers compared to its previous plan, which included the construction of an additional gas plant in Minnesota that has since been removed.
The proposal has been welcomed by a group of clean energy organizations in Minnesota, with Peder Mewis, of the Clean Grid Alliance, saying: "We are extremely pleased to see the amount of wind, solar, and battery storage in Xcel's Integrated Resource Plan.
"Even as Xcel Energy anticipates a dramatic increase in demand from data centers and AI, they are demonstrating an ongoing commitment to clean energy and keeping costs as low as possible for their customers by choosing clean, affordable, and reliable energy sources. Well done."
BMTN Note: Weather events in isolation can't always be pinned on climate change, but the broader trend of increasingly severe weather and record-breaking extremes seen in Minnesota and across the globe can be attributed directly to the rapidly warming climate caused by human activity. The IPCC has warned that Earth is "firmly on track toward an unlivable world," and says greenhouse gas emissions must be halved by 2030 in order to limit warming to 1.5C, which would prevent the most catastrophic effects on humankind. You can read more here.
