# Xcel Energy *Regulated electric and natural gas utility headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota; subject of six at-issue pairs in the record.* Xcel Energy Inc. is headquartered in [[Minneapolis]] and delivers regulated electricity and natural gas in parts of eight states. As of mid-2025 it counted about 3.9 million electric and 2.2 million gas customers, served through four operating subsidiaries, one of which is Northern States Power-Minnesota.[^1] In Minnesota the company owns and operates two nuclear plants: the [[Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant]] and the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant near Red Wing.[^1] In December 2018 the company announced a goal of 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2050, with an 80 percent cut in carbon emissions from 2005 levels by 2035.[^1] The Minnesota record documents other outputs. About 400,000 gallons of tritium-contaminated water leaked at Monticello. State officials and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission were notified on November 22, 2022, and the public was told on March 16, 2023.[^5] On December 14, 2023, the [[Minnesota Pollution Control Agency]] (MPCA) fined Xcel $14,000 for operating temporary tritiated-water storage tanks without the required permit.[^7] Monticello's operating license was renewed again on December 30, 2024.[^3] The project's at-issue record pairs Xcel with six documented matters.[^8][^9] These include the interval between identification of the Monticello leak's source and public disclosure, and a 2017 session law that exempted one Sherburne County gas plant from certificate-of-need and siting review. They also include public water and sewer money appropriated for a data center that was not built, a solar procurement opposed by two state offices, and a 2022 retirement order with an economic-development condition.[^8][^9] ## Who Three utilities make up Xcel's corporate lineage. Northern States Power Company (NSP) was based in Minneapolis, Public Service Company of Colorado in Denver, and Southwestern Public Service in Amarillo.[^1] NSP traces to the Washington County Light & Power Co., organized in 1909. It took the name Consumers Power Co. in 1910 and became Northern States Power Co. in 1916.[^1] Minnesota Senate committees held a hearing on the Monticello leak on April 12, 2023. Christopher Clark, president of Xcel Energy Minnesota, testified: "We have definitely learned lessons." He also said the public should have been told sooner.[^6] MPCA Assistant Commissioner Kirk Koudelka testified that regulators had waited for complete information before announcing the leak. Minnesota Department of Health Assistant Commissioner Dan Huff testified about private wells more than a mile from the site.[^6] ## What **Monticello release.** The leak came from a water pipe running between two buildings at the plant. Xcel put the volume at roughly 400,000 gallons of water containing tritium.[^5][^1] When Xcel and the MPCA disclosed the leak jointly on March 16, 2023, Xcel said the leak "poses no threat to health and safety."[^5] **Monticello tank penalty.** The MPCA had identified 1 million gallons as the temporary-storage threshold requiring a permit. In early April 2023, before it had the required major-facility permit, Xcel began filling a new tank with tritiated groundwater. That brought total temporary tank capacity to roughly 1.4 million gallons. The MPCA's penalty was $14,000.[^7] **Prairie Island storage.** Since 1973 Xcel and its parent company have stored the Prairie Island plant's nuclear waste next to the Prairie Island Indian Community, on the bank of the [[Mississippi River]]. Some community members live within 600 yards of the containment site.[^1] In 1991 the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission limited on-island storage to 17 casks. The Legislature later allowed that number to rise.[^1] **Trading suit.** A suit filed August 1, 2002, alleged that Xcel had made "round-trip" energy trades with no economic benefit to the company. It also alleged that the company lacked internal controls to monitor its power trading. Xcel paid $80,000,000 to settle.[^1] ## When - 1909: Washington County Light & Power Co. is organized; it is renamed Northern States Power Co. in 1916.[^1] - 1971: Monticello begins operating. A 2006 renewal extends its license to September 8, 2030.[^4] - 1991: The Public Utilities Commission caps Prairie Island cask storage at 17.[^1] - February 28, 2017: Governor Dayton signs the Sherburne County gas-plant session law, according to the at-issue record.[^8] - November 21, 2022: The Monticello release occurs.[^1] It is confirmed, and state officials and the NRC are notified, on November 22.[^5] - December 19, 2022: Xcel identifies the source of the leak, according to the at-issue record.[^8] - March 16, 2023: Xcel and the MPCA make a joint public disclosure. About 25 percent of the tritium has been recovered by this date.[^5] On March 17 an NRC spokesperson defends the delayed notification, saying the public "was not and is not in danger."[^5] - Early April 2023: Xcel begins filling a new tank before obtaining the permit.[^7] - April 12, 2023: Senate committee hearing.[^6] - December 14, 2023: The MPCA announces the $14,000 penalty.[^7] - December 30, 2024: The NRC issues Subsequent Renewed Facility Operating License No. DPR-22 for Monticello.[^3] ## Where The Monticello plant stands in [[Monticello]], Wright County. The City of Monticello says the plant employs about 640 people, counting plant-related contractors, and calls it "one of the largest property tax payers."[^2] The project's workpapers record the plant's share of Wright County's total tax base as an open item, because no located source publishes it.[^2] Prairie Island lies near Red Wing.[^1] The Sherco generating site is in [[Sherburne County, Minnesota]].[^9] ## Why The record shows the reasons officials gave for the timing of disclosure. Xcel's state president testified that the public should have been notified earlier, and the MPCA testified that it had waited for complete information.[^6] The NRC said the public "was not and is not in danger."[^5] The record does not establish why the announcement came on March 16, 2023, rather than earlier.[^5][^6] ## How The leak came from a pipe between two buildings.[^5] The MPCA set the 1-million-gallon permit threshold in March 2023, and Xcel began filling the tank that exceeded it in early April 2023, before the permit issued.[^7] Monticello's renewed license authorizes operation "at reactor core power levels not in excess of 2,004 megawatts thermal."[^3] The plant's rated output was uprated from 600 to 671 MWe.[^4] ## How much - About 400,000 gallons of tritium-contaminated water, roughly a quarter of the tritium recovered by March 16, 2023.[^5] - Roughly 1.4 million gallons of temporary tank capacity, against a 1-million-gallon permit threshold. The penalty was $14,000.[^7] - $80,000,000 paid to settle the 2002 trading suit.[^1] - $20.5 million appropriated for Sherco industrial-park water and sewer, and a $150,000 philanthropic grant to Becker, both according to the at-issue record.[^9] ## How many - About 3.9 million electric and 2.2 million gas customers as of mid-2025, served through four operating subsidiaries.[^1] - About 640 Monticello employees, counting plant-related contractors.[^2] - A cap of 17 storage casks at Prairie Island, set in 1991 and later raised by the Legislature.[^1] ## In the at-issue record The project's at-issue record makes the following entries. Each is cited to the federal executive order the project pairs it with. The underlying hearing, statute, agency and news sources named in each entry are not among the pack's citable URLs.[^8][^9] **Disclosure interval.** The record states that Xcel identified the leak's source on December 19, 2022. The public disclosure came 87 days later. The MPCA's stated reason was that it was waiting for complete information.[^8][^6] **Tank threshold.** The record pairs the 1.4-million-gallon storage with the threshold the MPCA had named in March 2023. The at-issue entry describes the 1.4 million gallons as storage reached. The MPCA release, the higher-ranked source, describes it as total temporary tank capacity.[^9][^7] **Sherburne gas-plant statute.** The record states that in 2017 the [[Minnesota Legislature]] passed a law authorizing a single utility to build a single gas plant, "provided that the plant is located on property in Sherburne County, Minnesota, already owned by the public utility." It states that the law exempted the plant from the certificate-of-need statute and the power plant siting chapter. Governor Dayton signed the law on February 28, 2017, and Xcel abandoned the plant in June 2021. The record flags the law as an enacted session law.[^8] **Data center.** The record states that [[Google]] announced a $600 million data center at the [[Sherco]] site in January 2019, and that the Legislature appropriated $20.5 million for the industrial park's water and sewer. According to the record, Google's power affiliate never gave notice to proceed, Xcel terminated the agreements, and Google withdrew in December 2022.[^9] **Sherco Solar.** The record states that the [[Minnesota Department of Commerce]] and the Attorney General's Office both opposed the proposal. Commerce found that the request for proposals was "poorly designed, creating unnecessary limits which reduced the number of bids received and as a result likely inflated the overall price." Three bids were received, one of them Xcel's own. The Attorney General said ratepayers would pay hundreds of millions more than competitive alternatives would cost. The proposal was approved.[^9] **Sherco Unit 3.** The record states that the 2022 [[Public Utilities Commission]] order retiring the unit opened a separate site-remediation docket. That docket required Xcel to hold stakeholder meetings with the [[City of Becker]] and report on economic development. As of the record, Becker's economic development consisted of a $150,000 philanthropic grant for a business incubator.[^9] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia, *Xcel Energy* (revision 1381581727, retrieved 2026-10-27) — corporate profile, customers, subsidiaries, history, nuclear plants, 2018 goal, Prairie Island storage, 2002 suit and settlement, Monticello release date. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xcel_Energy [^2]: City of Monticello, *Xcel Energy* (city web page) — about 640 employees including contractors; plant described as "one of the largest property tax payers"; the tax-base share is recorded in project workpapers as unpublished. https://www.monticellomn.gov/693/Xcel-Energy [^3]: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, notice in the *Federal Register* (January 3, 2025) — issuance of Subsequent Renewed Facility Operating License No. DPR-22 for Monticello on December 30, 2024; authorized power level. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-01-03/pdf/2024-31579.pdf [^4]: Wikipedia, *Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant* — operation from 1971; uprate to 671 MWe; 2006 renewal to September 8, 2030. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monticello_Nuclear_Generating_Plant [^5]: CBS News Minnesota, *Monticello nuclear plant radioactive leak: A timeline* (2023) — about 400,000 gallons; pipe between two buildings; confirmation and notification November 22, 2022; joint disclosure March 16, 2023 with about 25% recovered; Xcel and NRC statements. https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/monticello-nuclear-plant-radioactive-leak-a-timeline/ [^6]: Star Tribune, *Xcel, state regulators called in front of Senate committees over tritium leak* (hearing of April 12, 2023) — testimony of Christopher Clark, Kirk Koudelka and Dan Huff. https://www.startribune.com/xcel-state-regulators-called-in-front-of-senate-committees-over-tritium-leak/600266575 [^7]: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, *Xcel Energy Inc. fined $14,000 related to tritiated water storage at Monticello nuclear facility* (December 14, 2023) — penalty; tank filled in early April 2023 before permit; about 1.4 million gallons of capacity against the 1-million-gallon threshold identified in March 2023. https://www.pca.state.mn.us/news-and-stories [^8]: The White House, *Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos* (March 2025) — executive order the project pairs with at-issue entries AI-Humphrey-039 (disclosure interval) and AI-Sherburne-061 (2017 Sherburne statute); it does not itself document those facts. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/stopping-waste-fraud-and-abuse-by-eliminating-information-silos/ [^9]: The White House, *Protecting America's Bank Account Against Fraud, Waste, and Abuse* (March 2025) — executive order the project pairs with at-issue entries AI-Humphrey-058, AI-Sherburne-065, -068 and -071; it does not itself document those facts. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/protecting-americas-bank-account-against-fraud-waste-and-abuse/