Xcel Energy has proposed a new clean energy plan for the Upper Midwest that advances the company’s ambitious carbon reductions while ensuring customers continue to have the reliable, safe and affordable electric service.

Under the proposal, carbon emissions reductions are expected to exceed 80 percent by 2030, potentially reaching up to 88 percent. This positions the company well to meet Minnesota’s new carbon-free standard for 2040 and continues on a path to achieving the clean energy goals of all Upper Midwest states it serves. The plan calls for extending the use of Xcel Energy’s two carbon-free nuclear plants while adding more wind and solar energy, battery energy storage systems, and always-available sources of electric generation capacity.

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission has approved Xcel Energy’s expansion of the Sherco Solar project, which will soon become one of the biggest solar projects in the country. The project is a key element of Xcel Energy’s clean energy transition and will help the company triple the amount of solar on its Upper Midwest system by 2028.  The unanimous vote paves the way for 710 megawatts of solar generation near the existing Sherco coal plant in Becker, Minnesota, by adding a 250-megawatt array to the 460 megawatts currently under construction. All phases of the project are expected to be complete by the end of 2025, replacing the capacity of the Sherco plant’s first coal unit that is scheduled to retire later this year.

The solar portfolio approved by the Commission also includes a plan to purchase power from the 100-megawatt Apple River solar project in northwestern Wisconsin, which will be one of the largest solar projects in Wisconsin.

WEC Energy Group has released its 2022 Corporate Responsibility Report. The report provides a comprehensive overview of the company's environmental, social and governance performance. The report outlines the progress made by WEC Energy Group and its family of companies on major projects and the company's commitment to the environment and the economies of the areas it serves.

The report also examines the company's climate strategy and the research and development of emerging technologies such as hydrogen power and long-duration battery storage.

Xcel Energy has announced its Clean Heat Plan, the company’s first significant proposal to strategically reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the natural gas system. 

The Clean Heat Plan, one of the first of its kind, provides a pathway to reduce emissions consistent with state goals and further implements Xcel Energy’s net-zero emissions goal for its natural gas business. The Plan fast-tracks clean, resilient, innovative solutions while ensuring our customers receive the reliable, affordable energy they need to power their lives. Designed to accommodate customers’ unique needs, the Plan offers a portfolio of solutions customers can choose that work for them, leading to greater emission reductions at a lower cost.

Alliant Energy has begun the installation of solar panels at its 50-MW Beaver Dam Solar Project site. A ceremony was attended by executives, team members, construction partners, local leaders, neighbors, and participating landowners. Located in Dodge County, Wisconsin, just east of Beaver Dam, the project is part of Alliant Energy's Clean Energy Blueprint, an ambitious plan to expedite the development of renewable energy and decrease carbon emissions in a cost-effective manner.  The construction of this particular site is set to be completed by the end of 2023.

Overall, Alliant Energy's Clean Energy Blueprint comprises 12 utility-scale solar projects in Wisconsin, which will collectively generate almost 1,100 MW of energy once they are operational. Three of these projects, producing a combined total of 250 MW, commenced operations in late 2022, while the remaining nine are currently under construction.

The U.S. General Services Administration and the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) have announced a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Xcel Energy to work toward providing federal facilities in Minnesota, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin with 100 percent carbon free electricity by 2030.

The federal government hopes to lead by example and leverage its scale and procurement power to tackle the climate crisis. The MOU will advance the Administration’s ambitious goal of sourcing 100 percent CFE to power federal facilities by 2030, at least half of which will be locally-supplied clean energy to meet 24/7 demand.

MGE Energy has reported financial results for the fourth quarter of 2022 and for the full year of 2022.

MGE Energy's earnings for the full year of 2022 were $111.0 million, or $3.07 per share, compared to $105.8 million, or $2.92 per share, for the same period in the prior year.

Madison Gas and Electric has been approved by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin to purchase more solar energy and battery storage.

MGE can now purchase solar energy and battery storage from the Darien Solar Energy Center and will own 25 megawatts (MW) of solar energy and 7.5 MW of battery storage from a solar battery storage facility in Rock and Walworth counties in southern Wisconsin.

Xcel Energy has announced a proposal to advance the retirement of coal operations at Tolk Generating Station in Texas to 2028, more than four years earlier than planned. With this earlier retirement, along with accelerated coal plant retirements in other states, the company will exit the use of coal by the end of 2030 when the Comanche 3 coal unit in Colorado retires.

The company is leading the nation’s clean energy transition as it reduces carbon emissions 80% by 2030 for electric customers, with a vision to achieve 100% carbon-free electricity by 2050. Retiring coal generation while continuing to add reliable and affordable clean energy sources are key to Xcel Energy’s strategy in the eight states it serves.

Consistent with its commitment to sustainable energy and to global climate science, Madison Gas and Electric will reduce carbon at least eighty percent by 2030 as it works toward achieving net-zero carbon electricity by 2050. Under its Energy 2030 framework, announced in 2015, the company set a goal of forty percent carbon reduction by 2030, one of the first such goals set by a utility and in alignment with the Paris Agreement on climate change. 

Since then, the company has said it fully expects to achieve carbon reductions of at least sixty-five percent by 2030. In 2019, MGE established its goal of net-zero carbon electricity by mid-century, consistent with climate science from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and analysis of the company’s goal by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies.