Most CEOs mask their anger in public, a skill that helps them get the top job in the first place.
Not Xcel Energy's Ben Fowke.
This CEO of a Fortune 500 company arrived mad at a meeting with Star Tribune editors and reporters last week to discuss utility municipalization in Minneapolis, and he left mad.
There were no CEO rants or outbursts, but no one in the room could have missed his anger. It's apparently quite aggravating to him that Minneapolis city officials could plan a City Council hearing Thursday on the question of municipalization, one step in a process that could lead Minnesota's largest city to establish its own electric utility and take over the assets of Xcel, and not have ever asked whether Xcel still will be headquartered in Minneapolis the day the switch was thrown.
It won't be, he said.
Having the city actually step into the shoes of Xcel sure looks like it could be an expensive fiasco for both the people of Minneapolis and Xcel, so some anger seems justified.
But to head this off the company needs to get a whole lot lighter on its feet politically.
It's far more than this headquarters question that Xcel executives find frustrating, of course. Start with the notion that the city holds a lot of leverage now in talks to renew a utility franchise agreement. It's a key point for advocates now pitching alternatives to business as usual with Xcel.