Who is Xcel Energy?
Xcel Energy is Minnesota’s largest investor-owned utility, servicing approximately 1.3 million electrical customers across the state.
What is Xcel proposing?
Xcel is requesting its third rate increase in a decade – this time, asking customers like you to pay hundreds of millions of dollars for unnecessary and outdated investments. Xcel claims that the unprecedented increase is necessary to add renewables, update or replace aging infrastructure, maintain reliability, and maintain “predictability of rates.” But these claims simply don’t hold up to scrutiny. In fact, while customers like you foot the bill, the return on investment would largely line the pockets of Xcel’s shareholders.
Why is this important?
Minnesotans are already feeling the financial strain of inflation and severe weather worsened by climate change. By embracing local renewable energy sources like solar, Xcel could keep energy bills affordable, reduce racial and wealth disparities in energy costs, and accelerate our transition away from polluting fossil fuels. Instead, Xcel is making unsound investments with your hard-earned money.
What can I do?
Advancing an equitable clean energy future for Minnesota will take all of us! Here are a few ways you can take action:
- Use our guidance to write a letter to the editor about what Xcel’s proposed rate hikes would mean for you and your community.
- Spread the word about Xcel’s proposed rate hikes on social media or within your own personal networks. Not sure what to post? Use one of our sample tweets below:
- .@XcelEnergyMN wants to raise our bills AGAIN – and for what? Outdated infrastructure that doesn’t serve the public. @MN_PUC, we deserve better from our public utilities. #EnergyJusticeMN
- Low-income and BIPOC communities already shoulder the heaviest environmental injustices & face systemic barriers to clean energy access. Instead of taking action to advance energy equity, @XcelEnergyMN is prioritizing its own profit margins. #EnergyJusticeMN
- .@XcelEnergy has a mandate to serve the public interest, and the @MN_PUC must hold them accountable. Put Minnesotans first by requiring reasonable energy costs and equitable access to clean energy. #EnergyJusticeMN