By Amanda Durish Cook
Minnesota’s Xcel Energy is aiming to be coal-free by 2030, supported by extending service of its nuclear plant and using more natural gas-fired generation, the utility announced Monday.
The company announced that it will close its two remaining coal plants a decade earlier than originally scheduled but extend operation of the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant on the Mississippi River into 2040, 10 years after the plant’s current license expires. The nuclear extension will require both state and federal approvals.
The 511-MW Allen S. King Generating Station near the Twin Cities will close in 2028, while the 876-MW Sherco III unit of the Sherburne County (Sherco) Generating Station will close in 2030, Xcel said in a press release. The company has already said it will shutter the 680-MW Sherco I and 682-MW Sherco II in 2023 and 2026, respectively. It plans to build a new natural gas plant on the Sherco site.
The announcement comes as Xcel comes closer to securing the purchase of the gas-fired Mankato Energy Center from Southern Co. for about $650 million — a move originally opposed by the Sierra Club, which removed its comments in opposition after Xcel’s Monday announcement (18-702).
The company said the changes will take place while it triples its renewable portfolio, with plans to add 1,850 MW of wind by 2022 and about 3,000 MW of new solar by 2030.
Xcel said the acceleration of eliminating coal dependence “is another milestone in the company’s clean energy transition.”
The company will submit the retirement proposals, included in its 15-year resource plan, to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission on July 1. The company has said it plans to reduce carbon emissions to 80% below 2005 levels by 2030 and go completely carbon-free in 2050.
“This is a significant step forward as we are on track to reduce carbon emissions by more than 80% by 2030 and transform the way we deliver energy to our customers,” said Chris Clark, president of Xcel Energy in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.
After the Xcel retirements, Minnesota will be left with just one coal plant, Minnesota Power’s 1,000-MW Boswell power plant in Cohasset.
Xcel’s move also comes after Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced in March that the state would strive to use 100% clean energy by 2050, joining Wisconsin, which has a similar goal. The company joins a spate of MISO member companies that have pledged to go coal-free or carbon-free, including MidAmerican Energy, DTE Energy, Consumers Energy and Southern Co. Other MISO companies have deep carbon-reduction goals, including American Electric Power, Alliant Energy, Ameren, NextEra Energy and WEC Energy Group.
As a result, some MISO organizations and companies have asked the RTO to better account for significant renewable goals or decarbonization commitments in its transmission planning. (See MISO Going Back to the Futures for MTEP 20.)
