Becker City Administrator Greg Pruszinske sat down recently with Xcel Energy Community Relations and Economic Development Manager, Mark Osendorf to discuss the submission of Xcel Energy’s proposed 2016-2030 Resource Plan to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.
In the plan, Xcel Energy proposes to reduce carbon emissions by 40% and deliver 63% of their energy carbon-free by 2030. They plan to have their renewable energy portfolio grow to 35% by 2030, including the strategic addition of 1,800 megawatts of wind and 1,700 megawatts of utility scale solar (while integrating an expected 500 megawatts of consumer driven solar) onto their system by 2030.
Also highlighted at the meeting between Pruszinske and Osendorf was Xcel’s plan to request a more creative and collaborative approach to ensure they are able to achieve their proposed nation-leading carbon reductions in an affordable and responsible manner.
Xcel Energy serves 1.2 million electric customers in Minnesota and has the most wind power of any U.S. utility.
“As you know, the energy industry is in the midst of an historic transformation,” said Xcel’s Community Relations and Economic Development Manager Mark Osendorf. “Technology advancements, evolving public policy, increasing customer expectations and changing business models for sourcing and delivering energy create significant uncertainty for states, energy companies and their customers. Our proposed Resource Plan addresses these challenges while mapping out a nation leading carbon emission reduction path exceeding state energy goals and complying with likely federal environment legislation and potential EPA Clean Power Plant rules.”
Utilities are required to submit long-range plans to serve customers. Because Xcel is a regulated, investor-owned monopoly, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission reviews and potentially could alter the plan after hearing from other interests, a process that takes months. Xcel said it is open to working with environmental groups, business organizations and others who have concerns about the outcome.
“This plan balances the need to achieve environmental and renewable energy goals with the cost impact on our customers, keeping process predictable and affordable while allowing strategic flexibility that is critical to meeting our customers’ changing needs,” said Osendorf. “It also underscores Minnesota’s environmental leadership within the framework set forth in our request to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission to implement recommendations from the e21 Initiative.”
Some environmental groups have been lobbying Xcel to retire its two, large, 1970s-era coal units at the Sherco power plant in Becker. Instead, Xcel proposes to reduce that coal-generated electricity gradually from 37 percent this year to 29 percent in 2030. That would be done by dialing back the output at Sherco and its other Minnesota coal plant, Allen S. King, in Bayport.
At the same time, Xcel doesn’t plan to make significant new investments in those plants — as two other Minnesota utilities are doing with their large coal burners.
The fate of Xcel’s two nuclear power plants, at Monticello and Red Wing, are not addressed in the plan. Both have been heavily upgraded at a cost of more than $1 billion to keep them operating into the early 2030s.
Osendorf believes that Xcel Energy’s 2016 – 2030 Resource Plan is an aggressive and achievable carbon management roadmap that will cost-effectively meet and exceed state greenhouse gas, energy efficiency and renewable energy requirements.
