Sparby retires as Xcel's Minnesota CEO

Veteran Xcel Energy Inc. executive Dave Sparby said Monday that he is retiring from the company after 33 years.

Sparby, 60, is president and chief executive of the Minnesota regional division, which serves 1.2 million electric customers and 436,000 natural gas customers in Minnesota and 173,000 electric customers in North Dakota and South Dakota. He also is senior vice president of the corporate revenue group, and formerly served as chief financial officer.

In an interview, Sparby said the decision to retire was his own, and that he had not been asked to leave the company. He will remain on the job through the end of the year, he said.

"I've had a great career," he said. "The timing is good."

In a statement, CEO Ben Fowke said Sparby "has been an integral part of making Xcel Energy the progressive, forward-thinking utility we are." Fowke said he expects to name a new head of the Minnesota division, still officially known as Northern States Power Co.-Minnesota, by year's end.

Sparby and Xcel's Minnesota operations faced several challenges in 2014 that still linger as the year winds down. The company is seeking regulatory approval of a two-year electric rate increase, while defending the company's managing of a nuclear power plant upgrade in Monticello, Minn., which saw costs more than double to $665 million. Both matters are before Minnesota administrative judges, with findings expected in December.

Sparby said he is comfortable with the status of those cases, and they were not reasons for his departure.

"Xcel and NSP in particular have some challenges ahead but generally we think Xcel is headed in the right direction with its strategy," Miller said in an interview. "We don't expect any change in strategy as result of the announcement."

Born in Duluth, Sparby earned a bachelor's degree at the College of St. Scholastica, an MBA at the University of St. Thomas and a law degree at William Mitchell College of Law. He joined Xcel in 1982 as a staff attorney, rising through a series of posts, including vice president for government and regulatory affairs for nearly a decade until 2007.

Sparby first headed Xcel's Minnesota regional operations from 2007 to 2009, then became corporate chief financial officer in August 2009. He became a corporate senior vice president in 2011, and resumed the role of regional CEO for Minnesota in May 2013.

As head of Xcel's Minnesota operations, Sparby significantly expanded its renewable energy and energy efficiency efforts, including investments in four new wind farms and the first utility-scale solar projects. The company is now on track to reduce carbon by more than 30 percent by 2020 compared to 2005 levels, Xcel said.

Xcel said Marvin McDaniel, senior vice president and chief administrative officer, will assume Sparby's corporate-wide responsibilities as senior vice president for the revenue group on Jan. 1. McDaniel is a 27-year employee of Xcel and a predecessor company, New Century Energies. He held a variety of leadership positions in the operations, information technology, and rates and regulatory areas, Xcel said.