XCEL ENERGY STOCK PRICE FOR TODAY GENERATOR

Those include 'ongoing supply chain constraints, high labor costs, and rising interest rates that increase borrowing costs,' the filing said.

However, the company noted a 'constellation of factors' that have been driving up prices for solar projects. Xcel didn't disclose the estimated cost of the new Sherco solar project, which will take up 1,750 acres, in a filing Friday with the PUC. New tax subsidies created by a landmark 2022 federal clean energy law will help cover cost increases for the 3,500-acre project, Xcel has said. Originally slated to cost about $575 million, Xcel disclosed in October that due to inflationary pressures, the price is now expected to be $690 million. The largest 'utility-scale' solar project currently is Xcel's 100-megawatt array near North Branch.īut a buildout of large projects is on tap, and the biggest is Xcel's 460-megawatt Sherco project, which the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) approved in September despite concerns about its price tag. Solar currently provides about 3% of Minnesota's electricity, and the majority of that comes from smaller solar arrays that are 5 megawatts or below. The three large coal generators at Xcel's Sherco power station in Becker, which are big carbon dioxide emitters, are all expected to close by 2030. Of course, solar - while clean - is variable power, while coal power can be dispatched on demand.

XCEL ENERGY STOCK PRICE FOR TODAY GENERATOR

The 710 megawatts of total solar power capacity at Sherco - with the proposed expansion - would help replace electricity lost from the retirement later this year of a 680-megawatt coal-fired generator in Becker. The disappointing outcome of the bid is 'emblematic of the broader marketplace.' In some cases, 'bids were significantly above the price level we view as prudent,' Xcel said in the regulatory filing. The Sherco addition and the Wisconsin project total 350 megawatts, well short of the 900 megawatts of solar that Xcel was seeking in a request for proposals made in October. Xcel would own and build the two Sherco projects. Xcel would buy power from National Grid under a long-term agreement. One is the Sherco addition, the other a 100-megawatt solar project in Polk County, Wis., being developed by National Grid Renewables.

In a recent bid for solar proposals, Xcel found only two projects that were cost-effective for its customers. Still, Xcel acknowledged in a regulatory filing late Friday that costs for new solar farms - and clean energy projects generally - have been soaring. 'These projects will be the lowest-cost solar on our Upper Midwest system and demonstrate our focus on clean energy without compromising affordability.'

'We are committed to moving the Sherco Solar project forward to deliver significant new clean energy to our customers and communities,' said Chris Clark, Xcel's president for Minnesota, in a statement. The plan is to complete the entire complex by the end of 2025. Xcel said Monday it will ask Minnesota utility regulators to add a 250-megawatt solar array to the 460-megawatt Sherco Solar project in Becker that is already approved.

Xcel Energy plans to build another major solar array in Becker, creating one of the largest solar power complexes in the country.

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