Xcel Energy’s push to add nearly 10 GW of renewable energy and meet its 80% carbon-reduction goal by 2030 will hinge largely on long-haul transmission projects, CEO Ben Fowke said Thursday.
Xcel last month filed a proposal to build 560 miles of 345-kV transmission infrastructure in eastern Colorado. The $1.7 billion Colorado Power Pathway project would help the company access 5.5 GW of wind, solar and storage power and the state reach its 85% carbon-reduction target.
“There’s a recognition that if we’re going to achieve … an 85% carbon reduction with almost 80% of it coming from renewable energy, we’re going to need a strong backbone to be able to do that,” Fowke told financial analysts during Xcel’s first-quarter earnings call Thursday.
One analyst noted the Pathway project was among a list of 22 “anointed” shovel-ready projects released earlier this week by Americans for a Clean Energy Grid. (See related story, Biden Admin Announces New Tx Expansion Measures.)
“The [regulatory] reception has been very favorable to the project,” Fowke said.
The company’s management also addressed MISO’s long-range transmission road map, a massive, $100 billion group of projects — if fully built out — designed to help the footprint’s states and utilities unlock renewable energy and achieve their climate goals. (See MISO Execs Defend Need for Long-range Tx.)
“The MISO studies are preliminary, but … that’s an enormous investment opportunity,” Fowke said, noting that Xcel holds the right of first refusal to build transmission in Minnesota.
“We expect all transmission owners to work through the process at MISO over the course of 2021,” COO Bob Frenzel said, “ultimately, with a goal of by the end of the year, coming out with a series of recommended projects all over the territory.”
The executives agreed that the infrastructure plans coming out of the Biden administration will only help them more quickly delivery low-cost renewable energy.
“Taking advantage of very low-cost renewables … you make that even less expensive, more affordable with the tax policies that have a pretty good shot of getting passed,” Fowke said. “That’s creating a lot of headroom for our investment, while keeping our product affordable, allowing us to then focus on things like electrification under the Biden administration proposal. It really is, I think, very, very bullish for Xcel Energy.”
The company reported first-quarter earnings of $362 million ($0.67/share), up from last year’s first-quarter performance of $295 million ($0.56/share). That beat analysts’ expectations of 61 cents/share, according to Thomson Reuters.
Fowke said Xcel incurred $1 billion of incremental fuel costs during February’s winter storm, which enveloped the middle of the country. The company plans to recover over one to two years to mitigate the impact to customer bills.
“I think there are a lot of lessons learned from Uri,” he said, referring to The Weather Channel’s name for the storm. “The need to invest in resiliency, the increased interdependency between the gas and electric sectors, and the need to have 24/7 dispatchable generation available are a few that come to mind.”
Xcel’s stock price was trading down at $70.38 in the after-hours market Thursday, still a gain of 57 cents on the day.
Entergy Beats Expectations, Despite Storm
Entergy’s financials suffered few ill effects from Uri as the New Orleans-based company reported first-quarter earnings Wednesday of $335 million ($1.66/share), based on $2.84 billion in revenue. A year ago, earnings came in at $119 million ($0.59/share).
The company’s adjusted earnings of $1.47/share beat expectations by 30 cents.
CEO Leo Denault told financial analysts that recent regulatory settlements in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas have solidified “a clear path for our future growth.”
The company did not address several regulatory investigations into poor performance and high customer bills. An initial report commissioned by the New Orleans City Council found Entergy mistakes in responding to MISO load-shed directions led to widespread power outages during the February storm. The Louisiana Public Service Commission has also launched its own investigation into Entergy’s performance during the storm.
Entergy’s share price lost nearly $1 after the earnings release but recovered to close Thursday at $108.58, a $2.06 gain since Tuesday.
