Fresh Energy applauds the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission’s approval of this innovative new program.
On April 2, 2026, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission approved Xcel Energy’s proposed “Capacity*Connect” (C*C) program (Docket #25-378), a significant step toward creating the grid of the future. This innovative program originally came out of Xcel’s Energy’s 2024 Integrated Resource Planning process and will deploy up to 200 megawatts of battery storage on Xcel’s distribution grid.
“Fresh Energy applauds the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission’s deep consideration of this issue and forward-looking decision,” said Will Mulhern, Director, Electricity at Fresh Energy. “This docket had many stakeholders and a robust record for the Commission to parse, and their final decision advances an innovative approach to bring much-needed clean energy capacity to the grid quickly, while optimizing benefits to its distribution system.”
As utilities around the country grapple with growing capacity demands on their systems, distributed energy resources (DERs) can be a valuable tool for maintaining reliability, flexibility, and affordability while advancing decarbonization. Capacity*Connect will provide Xcel with an opportunity to learn how to coordinate DERs on its system in a way that works for its customers and advances decarbonization efforts. This learning will pave the way for further innovation and the adoption of additional DER programs in the future. It’s clear that utilities around the country, including Xcel Energy, have a growing understanding that the DER model is viable, important, and in clear alignment with state policy goals.
In Fresh Energy’s comments filed at the Commission, we supported the development of this program as a way to offset investment in new fossil fuel infrastructure and maximize the value of Xcel Energy’s existing grid. Additionally, because this program represents a large and long-term investment by the utility, we recommended that the Commission ensure Xcel Energy’s commitment to equitable implementation of this program are clear, ensuring it benefits environmental justice communities and diverse suppliers.
“Fresh Energy is pleased with Xcel Energy and Sparkfund’s inclusion of several items that will allow small and diverse business owners to have the opportunity to bid on the Capacity*Connect contracts,” said Shubha Harris, Chief Equity Policy Officer at Fresh Energy. “This is a step in the right direction to allow more people to benefit from the investments in the clean energy economy.”
The C*C program, which Xcel Energy would implement in partnership with deployment services company Sparkfund, is unique from other approaches in that it would leverage utility-owned and operated batteries on Xcel Energy’s distribution system. This allows Xcel Energy to control how the batteries are used, maximizing their ability to deliver capacity to the grid when it needs it most. This is one of a number of possible models for distributed energy programs. We are excited that the learnings from this program can pave the way to additional successful deployments in the future.
Fresh Energy looks forward to continuing to engage with utilities, other stakeholders, and the Commission on advancing novel solutions to meet our state’s climate goals while delivering affordable and reliable service for Minnesotans.