Xcel Energy tells Denver council it needs hundreds of millions for local grid upgrades as part of a $22.5 billion Colorado plan

Xcel Energy told the City and County of Denver on Thursday that it has filed a multibillion‑dollar package with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to expand generation, transmission and distribution capacity as the region electrifies.

Holly, a Xcel presenter, said the utility has proposed roughly $22.5 billion of electric and gas infrastructure investment in Colorado over the next five years, including nearly $4 billion for renewable generation pending final PUC approval and about $7.5 billion for distribution upgrades. "Over the next 5 years, we need to invest $22,500,000,000 into the electric and gas infrastructure in the state of Colorado to meet this new growth," she said.

Why it matters: Denver officials pressed Xcel on how that statewide plan translates into neighborhood impacts, rate pressure and the timeline for projects that serve major local developments such as River Mile, Ball Arena and Denver International Airport (DEN). The proposal would shift some future spending into a distribution plan mechanism that the company says could reduce the need for frequent rate cases but may face negotiation with the PUC and consumer advocates.

Details: For Denver specifically, Xcel proposed roughly $700 million in distribution investments to upgrade or add feeders and substations and to heat‑map growth so utilities and developers site infrastructure in step with new construction. Holly described planned feeder upgrades and a set of substations—some expansions and some new—tied to growth areas; she said two DIA substations were included in the distribution plan with planned in‑service targets (one in 2028 and one in 2030), though she cautioned timelines depend on land, permitting and siting approvals.

On generation and transmission, Xcel outlined the Colorado Power Pathway, a multi‑segment transmission project to carry renewable energy from the Eastern Plains into the Denver metro area; the company said the first segment is online and additional segments are in construction and permitting with a target of having the pathway operating by 2028.

Policy and large users: Council members asked how data centers and other large commercial customers will be treated. Holly said Xcel and the PUC are preparing a 'large load tariff' to be filed in April that would require users above about 20 megawatts to pay for distribution and transmission infrastructure to serve them and to be treated as transmission customers rather than distribution customers. "Anything over 20 megawatts has to be on the transmission system," she said, and large customers would bear related infrastructure costs under the forthcoming policy.

Rates and affordability: Xcel confirmed it filed electric and natural gas rate cases to true up prior investments and said the distribution plan could move roughly 80% of future electric rate impacts into the distribution‑planning mechanism. The company stressed layered energy assistance and partnerships—naming Energy Outreach Colorado—to support vulnerable customers, and committed to follow up with Denver‑specific counts for a slide that showed "over 20,000 referred customers" statewide were ineligible for the current assistance program.

Operational questions and community concerns: Council members pressed Xcel on outage detection from smart meters, union labor in contracted projects, construction communication and siting impacts in equity neighborhoods. Holly said Xcel completed smart‑meter installations for non‑opt‑outs and is integrating software to surface outage information to customers but had no firm customer‑facing timeline. She said roughly 50–60% of Xcel's Colorado field workforce is represented by IBEW and that public projects above $500,000 require union workers or contractors, though emergency or storm work sometimes uses nonunion crews.

Airport and major projects: Scott Morrissey, senior vice president for sustainability at Denver International Airport, said DEN and Xcel have met monthly for about three years to coordinate capacity for projects such as the consolidated rental car facility and terminal expansion. Both parties said current planning can serve DEN's near‑term consolidated rental car needs, but redundancy and resiliency require ongoing coordination.

What comes next: Xcel is awaiting written PUC decisions on its generation and transmission filings and expects continued PUC negotiation on the distribution plan’s size; the company said it would follow up with Denver staff on detailed timing, localized eligibility counts for assistance and other council requests. The council paused for a break and expected follow‑up from Xcel and council aides.