Xcel to add 3.2 GW of wind and 400 MW of solar by 2030

Xcel may have tried to do the right thing by planning to construct a few new natural gas plants while it adds grid-destabilizing wind and solar. Unfortunately, its final Upper Midwest Energy Plan, released this month, adds renewables and cuts construction of one of two new gas plants through 2030.

The natural gas plant it does plan to construct, in Lyon County, Minnesota, would be “hydrogen-capable,” as if green hydrogen were any more economical than natural gas.

The plan includes:

• Extending the use of existing nuclear plants into the 2050s.  
• Retiring coal facilities by 2030. 
• Adding new renewable resources by 2030, including 4,200 MW of wind and 400 MW of solar.  
• Adding 600 MW of battery storage by 2030.  
• Adding 2,244 MW of peaking capacity by 2030.  
• Integrating over 1,800 MW of additional distributed energy resources, for example distributed solar, energy efficiency, and demand response, by 2030. 

“The 400 MW in solar the company plans to build, on the other hand, is somewhat less than what it has considered in previous IRPs,” according to UtilityDive.

The plan intends to milk the U.S. taxpayer for tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act:

 The agreement will keep costs low for customers by unlocking tax credit savings from the Inflation Reduction Act for renewable generation and energy storage. In addition, by continuing the operation of Xcel Energy’s nuclear plants, customers will benefit from the affordable, always-available, carbon-free electricity the plants generate.

I must doubt that a plan adding intermittent wind and solar energy will “keep costs low for customers,” whether or not the construction costs are covered in part by the U.S. taxpayer. Xcel already has the highest residential electricity prices in Minnesota.

Extending the use of already-built nuclear plants through the early 2050s is good, but Minnesota could have all of the carbon dioxide emissions-free energy it wanted if it allowed the construction of new nuclear power plants. It is currently prohibited under M.S. Chapter 216B.243 subd. 3b. to build new nuclear power plants — so Xcel must plan on aging nuclear infrastructure and expensive, unreliable and intermittent wind and solar.