Joint Release:
Xcel Energy to meet Minnesota’s energy needs with first-in-the-nation distributed capacity procurement
Company to deploy up to 200 megawatts of distributed battery storage capacity
MINNEAPOLIS (Oct. 6, 2025) — Xcel Energy is making a first-of-its-kind proposal to build out a battery storage network across Minnesota, optimizing the state’s energy grid and helping the company meet the growing electricity needs of the communities it serves.
“We’re focused on supporting economic growth and the needs of our communities by building out and modernizing our energy grid,” said Ryan Long, president of Xcel Energy-Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. “We believe distributed energy resources are an important part of that strategy. They will complement our current plans for additional renewable and firm dispatchable generating resources to meet our customers’ needs.”
Xcel Energy’s approach takes advantage of its integrated system planning processes to determine the best customer locations to install the new battery storage resources. The company will integrate the battery storage into its system operations, charging the batteries during times when energy is inexpensive and dispatching that energy to serve all customers during periods of peak demand.
“By storing energy when it’s cheap, delivering it when it’s needed most and placing assets where they maximize grid value, Xcel Energy is delivering reliable energy to customers today and building a grid that is ready for tomorrow,” said Pier LaFarge, CEO of Sparkfund. “Sparkfund will help Xcel Energy deploy distributed energy resources to meet growing customer energy needs, support economic growth in Minnesota and unlock the full value of the U.S. electric grid.”
Battery storage is an important part of Minnesota’s energy future. Xcel Energy’s recently approved Upper Midwest Energy Plan calls for the installation of 600 megawatts of energy storage by the end of 2030. The proposed distributed capacity procurement will help achieve that goal, and Xcel Energy is bringing it forward to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission with the encouragement of many stakeholders.
Xcel Energy intends to locate the batteries at local businesses, commercial or industrial sites, or nonprofit organizations. This provides more customers – including those in environmental justice communities – with an opportunity to benefit financially from hosting clean energy technologies. Hosts would receive direct payments for participating in the program. Each site will have approximately one to three megawatts of storage (one megawatt is about the size of a shipping container).
Xcel Energy, in collaboration with Sparkfund, will scale the deployment so the grid can keep pace with increasing demand while prioritizing local workers and complying with the company’s labor standards. Xcel Energy will operate each battery storage asset to maintain safety and security of the system.
With this novel approach, Xcel Energy and Sparkfund will closely review performance, costs, and customer experience as the program grows, ensuring this approach is cost-effective while supporting a clean, reliable and safe grid.
Xcel Energy media contact: mediainquiries@xcelenergy.com
Sparkfund media contact: media@sparkfund.com
About Xcel Energy
Xcel Energy (NASDAQ: XEL) is a leading energy provider, dedicated to serving millions of customers with excellence. We make energy work better for customers, helping them thrive every day. That means always raising the bar — delivering better service and providing more reliable, resilient and sustainable energy.
We are committed to leading the clean energy transition, meeting our customers’ need for more, cleaner power, while keeping bills as low as possible. Because the people we serve depend on us to power their lives.
Headquartered in Minneapolis, we work every day to generate and distribute electricity and gas to customers across eight states: Minnesota, Colorado, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, New Mexico, and Texas. For more information, visit xcelenergy.com or follow us on X and Facebook.
About Sparkfund
Sparkfund is the deployment services company utilities rely on to take DERs from grid edge to grid core. With over a decade of experience as a utility services company, Sparkfund has pioneered a smarter approach to deploying distributed assets as part of a fast-growing grid. Through its Distributed Capacity Procurement (DCP) model, Sparkfund enables utilities to plan, deploy, and dispatch DERs at the scale and pace necessary to meet load growth demand and unlock the full value of the grid. We support program design, assessment of DER grid value, host engagement, and value chain management to ensure on-time, on-budget deployment of distributed resources with maximum grid value and lowest cost. With more than 3,200 projects deployed across 43 states and more than 300MW of energized assets constructed, Sparkfund is transforming customer-sited assets into a valuable extension of the grid for the benefit of our society. To learn more about Sparkfund, visit sparkfund.com.