Xcel Energy has just canceled a giant statewide EV project for what might be one of the craziest reasons ever.
Here’s Five Fast Facts on Xcel Energy’s Cancellation:
- 🔌 Charged Up - Xcel Energy is canceling a new project that would have installed more than 700 EV charging stations. The reason? The state won’t let them raise their rates as high as they wanted. That’s right: the utility worth $29.17B is mad they can’t charge you more on top of your already sky-high rates.
- 💡 Big Bucks - The original project would have cost a proposed $192M, with a 10% return for Xcel.
- 🔋 No Thanks - EV supporters, along with EV charging companies, were not fans of the proposal to begin with, calling it a regulated monopoly. In essence, Xcel would be charging the average citizen more money to build EV charging stations that EV drivers would pay Xcel to use.
- ⚡ Power-ful Payout - Xcel’s rate hike proposal would have been a 21% increase that would cost customers $677M. The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) approved a 9%, $306M increase over three years.
- 🪫 Mile High - Xcel has a similar plan in Colorado that’s up for approval from its Public Utilities Commission. If it passes, it will cost ratepayers $140M.
🔥Bottom line: The stones on these guys, right? What they’re doing is incredibly transparent: they don’t want to make the transition to renewable energy, so they’re blaming the state and saying “well, we tried,” while still raking in profits from increased rates.
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