Dive Brief:
- Xcel Energy has developed a plan intended to reduce carbon emissions from 2005 levels by 30% by 2020 and by 40% by 2030, the Star Tribune reports.
- The plan, which is designed to meet anticipated federal carbon regulations, includes adding 600 MW of wind by 2020 and 1,200 MW by 2030, bringing total wind power on Xcel’s Upper Midwest system to over 3,600 MW.
- Xcel is also proposing to add 187 MW of large-scale solar energy by the end of 2016 and an additional 1,700 MW of large-scale solar and 500 MW of customer-driven small-scale solar.
Dive Insight:
Xcel Energy has proposed more than doubling its renewable energy portfolio in Minnesota and slashing emissions, with an aggressive 40% reduction targeted for 2030.
“Our resource plan proposes nation-leading carbon emission reductions and renewable energy integration. It charts a course to cost-effectively meet and exceed the carbon, renewable energy and energy efficiency requirements of the states we serve in the Upper Midwest," said Chris Clark, president of Northern States Power Co.-Minnesota, an Xcel Energy company.
The proposal is outlined in the company’s 2016-2030 Upper Midwest Integrated Resource Plan, and calls for boosting wind and solar power while operating the baseload Monticello and Prairie Island nuclear plants through their current licenses, which begin expiring in 2030.
Xcel said it will also be decreasing reliance on Units 1 and 2 at Sherburne County (Sherco) Generating Plant through 2030. The utility also will bring total solar power on its Upper Midwest system to about 2,400 MW.
“In this resource plan, we have focused on the long-term implications of energy policy goals in the context of an evolving utility industry,” Clark said. “We, along with our regulators and stakeholders, have a unique opportunity to work together to agree on a vision and the decisions necessary to achieve it."
