🌲 Minnesota Energy Profile #3 Wind State 100% Clean by 2040

Minnesota Wind — Midwest Anchor

Minnesota established the nation's first Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) in 1994 and has been a wind pioneer since the late 1990s. The Buffalo Ridge area in the southwestern corner of the state is one of America's finest onshore wind resources, with capacity factors of 40–50%. Minnesota's wind capacity now exceeds 5 GW.

The state is also home to major wind manufacturing supply chain facilities (towers, nacelles), though Chinese competition has pressured US manufacturers. Xcel Energy's Colorado and Minnesota fleets are among the most wind-intensive utility portfolios in the country.

Minnesota's Nuclear Fleet

Moratorium on new nuclear: Minnesota has had a moratorium on new nuclear plant construction since 1994 — one of the few states to do so — though the 2023 Clean Energy Act allows consideration of advanced nuclear for the 2040 goal. Xcel Energy is evaluating SMR (small modular reactor) options for post-2035.

Prairie Island — Tribal opposition: Prairie Island is located adjacent to the Mdewakanton Dakota Sioux community. The tribe has long opposed the plant's spent nuclear fuel dry cask storage expansion; this became a landmark environmental justice case in 1994 when Minnesota's legislature approved additional dry cask storage over tribal objections.

Minnesota Next Generation Energy Act — 100% Clean by 2040

In February 2023, Governor Tim Walz signed the Next Generation Energy Act (HF 7), establishing one of the most ambitious clean electricity standards in the United States. The law requires 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040 — the nation's most ambitious statutory target at the time of passage.

Definition matters: The law uses "carbon-free" (not "renewable"), meaning nuclear power, hydroelectric, and fossil fuels with CCS count toward the target. This distinguishes Minnesota from states like California that use stricter "renewable" definitions excluding nuclear.

Xcel Energy — Minnesota's Carbon-Free Pioneer

Xcel Energy serves approximately 1.3 million electric customers in Minnesota (and additional customers in Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, New Mexico). Xcel was the first major US utility to voluntarily commit to 100% carbon-free electricity by 2050 (announced in 2018), with an 80% target by 2030. It operates Prairie Island and Monticello nuclear plants and has been one of the nation's most aggressive wind builders.

Economic Profile