Xcel plans to phase out all coal plants in 8-state service area by end of 2030

Xcel Energy announced today (Mon) it plans to no longer use coal to generate electricity anywhere in the eight states it serves after the end of 2030.  The company is asking regulators to decommission a coal plant in northwest Texas in 2028, four years earlier than planned.  The utility’s John Marshall says two Minnesota plants will also be phased out by decade’s end:

“Two coal facilities left here in Minnesota:  our Sherco plant up in Becker — that’s a three-unit facility — and then we’ve got a single-unit facility out in Oak Park Heights called our Allen S. King plant.  We’ll be exiting both of those by the end of 2030 as well.”

Marshall says nuclear will continue as part of Xcel’s energy mix with two plants, both in Minnesota at Prairie Island and Monticello, plus natural gas and expanding use of wind and solar.