on October 20, 2020

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Xcel Energy Ties Executive Pay to Emissions Goals: Minnesotans Pay the Price

Written by Isaac Orr

Government-approved monopolies like Xcel Energy operate under a perverse incentive structure in Minnesota. The more these companies spend on new wind turbines, solar panels, and natural gas plants, the higher their government guaranteed profit soar. This is why Xcel Energy's corporate profits have increased in lock-step with renewable energy generation. Another factor influencing Xcel Energy's advocacy of closing down their coal plants decades before the end of their useful lifetimes and building wind and solar is the fact that Xcel is one of the few utilities to tie executive compensation to performance on emissions goals. This incentive was established as early...

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on August 21, 2020

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Xcel’s Electric Vehicle Scheme Will Give Wealthy Liberals More of Your Money

Written by Isaac Orr

in Energy

Last weekend, the Minneapolis Star Tribune wrote an article about Xcel Energy's plans to increase the number of electric vehicles (EVs) on the road by giving rebates of up to $2,500 to people who purchase EVs. These rebates, which would most likely be paid to wealthy urban liberals, would be paid for using your money. Xcel Energy is NOT a Private Company It's always important to remember that Xcel isn't really a private business, they are a government approved monopoly. As an Xcel customer, you have no freedom to choose another provider if you want to shop around for a better deal....

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on March 02, 2020

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Xcel Energy Provides Strong Testimony Against the Community Solar Program

Written by Isaac Orr

in Energy

I have a lot of policy disagreements with Xcel Energy, but I firmly believe it is important to give credit when credit is due. The video below is from last week, and it shows Rick Evans of Xcel Energy testifying about the huge inefficiencies related to the Community Solar program. Evans makes many of the same arguments Center of the American Experiment makes about wind and solar every day. https://youtu.be/I-jPAY1wL-4?t=3431 Evans states: "Our customers are required to pay triple the cost of solar energy, in an unlimited quantity, that comes on to our system regardless of whether we need it or not. First of...

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on February 17, 2020

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Real Clear Energy: Money & Power: New FOIA’d Documents Offer Ugly Candor About ‘Green Energy’

Written by Isaac Orr

in Energy

The article below was originally written by Chris Horner and it appeared at Real Clear Energy. I've added my own commentary within the text of the article below. "Recently, excerpts from notes taken at a meeting at the Rockefeller family mansion between activists, donors and political appointees emerged. They contain further revelations, beyond those first reported. These notes quote numerous, high-ranking political appointees from state government making quite clear that the costly lessons of scandalous Obama-era parade of high-profile and costly green energy boondoggles changed nothing. “Green energy” remains about money and power. As in keeping power, not generating it. The handwritten and typed notes...

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on February 03, 2020

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Our Perspective: Xcel Quarterly Profits up 35 Percent, Buoyed by Rate Increases

Written by Isaac Orr

in Energy

The Star Tribune published a bombshell story last Thursday entitled "Xcel Quarterly Profits up 35 Percent, Buoyed by Rate Increases," which reported Xcel Energy's quarterly profits for the last quarter of 2019, but unfortunately, unless people understand energy policy in Minnesota, they would have no idea why this story is so explosive. According to the Star Tribune article: "Xcel Energy’s fourth-quarter profits rose 35% and beat Wall Street forecasts, aided by rate increases in several states." Higher electric and natural gas profit margins, primarily due to rate increases, added 37 cents per share in 2019, said a report Thursday by Travis Miller, a...

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on January 24, 2020

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Despite Massive Wind and Solar Spending, Minnesota Carbon Dioxide Emissions Essentially Flat Since 2012

Written by Isaac Orr

in Energy

When lawmakers like Governor Tim Walz and members of the Minnesota House of Representatives call for massively increasing the amount of wind and solar on the grid, they often do so because they claim climate change is an "existential crisis." If these lawmakers truly believe this talking point, though, they wouldn't be advocating for building more wind and solar. This is because Minnesota has seen virtually no decline in annual CO2 emissions since 2012, despite the fact that we have seen wind and solar capacity increase by 50 percent during this time frame, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data. The...

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on December 16, 2019

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Production at Nobles Wind Facility Continues to Plummet

Written by Isaac Orr

in Energy

Earlier this year, I wrote about how the Nobles Wind project, which is the third-largest wind facility in Minnesota, is already losing steam. The most recent data from the Energy Information Administration (which runs through September) show that 2019 hasn't been kind to the project, either. Thus far, the Nobles wind project has a capacity factor of just 33.9, which is far below where it has been in previous years, according to the table below. In fact, the capacity factor (a measure of productivity) of this wind facility is about 10 percent lower this year compared to 2014. This has important implications...

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on December 12, 2019

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100 Percent Wind+Solar+Batteries= $1,036.80 Monthly Electric Bill, According to An Xcel Energy Slide Show and EIA Data

Written by Isaac Orr

in Energy

In April of this year, Gov. Tim Walz's administration suggested the economics of nuclear power likely make it too expensive to be part of his plan to produce 100 percent of Minnesota’s electricity from carbon-free sources by 2050. Instead, the administration argued technological improvements would allow wind, solar, and battery storage technology to reliably and affordably meet Minnesota’s energy needs. A slide show produced by Xcel Energy suggests the Governor couldn't be more wrong. This slideshow was presented to the Midwestern Governor's Association meeting in March of 2019. One would assume someone from the Governor's office would be at the meeting, but just in...

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on December 03, 2019

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Reactions to Proposed Rate Increases Shows Minnesota Citizen’s Utility Board Cares More about Renewables Than Ratepayers

Written by Isaac Orr

in Energy

There is no reason for CUB to be more upset about Minnesota Power’s rate increase than Xcel Energy's. I submit that the reason CUB is less forgiving of Minnesota Power's smaller rate increase is that the organization cares about renewables first, and ratepayers second....

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on November 20, 2019

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MPUC Continues to Address Utility System Reliability: Gas System Shortcomings Addressed, Electric Generation Issues Receive Scant Attention

Written by Isaac Orr

in Energy

The Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association (MMUA) represents electric utilities that are owned and operated by municipal governments throughout the state of Minnesota. The association publishes a monthly newsletter, and one article highlighting the serious reliability issues presented by last winter's polar vortex was very interesting. I have reproduced the article below and added additional commentary to supplement some of the points made. Minnesota’s electric and natural gas utility systems were stressed last winter, failures occurred, and the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) has addressed the issue several times since then, including Oct. 10. The latest meeting revolved around the Xcel Energy gas...

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