Xcel Energy says it needs to increase spending on infrastructure by $11 billion over the next five years to address a confluence of challenges simultaneously crashing into the electricity industry, from a big ramp-up in energy-hungry data centers to the switch to clean energy and damage from large storms and wildfires.
Just last year, Minneapolis-based Xcel said it would spend $34 billion from 2025 to 2030. But Thursday, it said it needed $45 billion to keep up with the demands on its services — nearly 30% of which would be spent in Minnesota and the Dakotas.
The company also said Thursday it plans Friday to file a new Minnesota electricity rate case with Minnesota regulators to help pay for investments in the state over the next couple of years. Xcel will ask for an increase of $491 million over two years — a 9.6% jump in 2025 and a 3.6% increase in 2026. Bill increases, Xcel said, would be less than that percentage because the utility plans to pass on savings from federal tax credits for its nuclear power generation.
“We as a company, we as an industry, are probably going to have to invest at a greater speed than we’ve done in the past to keep up with reliability and safe service for our customer base,” Bob Frenzel, Xcel’s CEO, said in an interview. “Our customers are demanding speed and scale. The climate demands speed and scale.”
Xcel’s latest capital spending plans calls for big investments in its aging electricity grid. Roughly 63% of spending over the next five years will fund upgrades and additions meant to modernize and harden Xcel’s transmission and distribution system. That will help Xcel move wind and solar power across great distances, and protect against severe weather and wildfires and what the company described as national security issues.
Xcel’s territory touches eight states, including Texas and Colorado, which have seen devastating wildfires in recent years that led to lawsuits against the company.
The capital spending plan was announced along with the release of Xcel’s third quarter earnings report Thursday.
Xcel Energy reported $3.64 billion in revenue for the quarter ended September 2024, a year-over-year decline of 0.5%. Net income was $682 million, or $1.21 a share, up from $656 million, or $1.19 a share. Ongoing earnings, which subtract one-time events, were $1.25 per share, which missed Wall Street estimates.