Xcel 2025 Earnings Report reveals increasing profits amidst ongoing MN rate case
On February 5, 2026, Xcel released its annual earnings report for 2025. In it, the company reported $2.24 billion in annual profits—or $3.80 in earnings per share (EPS) of outstanding Xcel stock— for 2025. By comparison, Xcel earned $1.97 billion, or $3.50 per share, in 2024.
At the same time, Xcel Energy is at the PUC seeking to rates for Minnesota electric customers by 13.2% over two years. Minnesotans are angry about this request. In the fifteen months since Xcel sent a notice to its customers alerting them to the requested rate increase, some 8,000 people have filed public comments—the vast majority of whom strongly oppose the rate increase. (That’s over 10 times the number of public comments filed in Xcel’s last electric rate case.) Many of the public comments question why the increase is necessary in light of Xcel’s increasing corporate profits.
Keep reading to learn more about Xcel’s reported earnings and corporate profits.
Xcel’s latest earnings report—along with similar reports filed in prior years— reveals that Xcel’s ongoing earnings have steadily climbed for at least a decade.
Xcel owns four utility companies that operate in 8 states (Minnesota, Colorado, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas and New Mexico). Earnings from each of those utilities contribute to Xcel’s overall earnings. Xcel’s Minnesota utility, Northern States Power Company (NSP-MN) is the only of Xcel’s four utility companies that has experienced growth in earnings per share, year-over-year, in each of the past four years.
What do these reported earnings mean in the context of Xcel’s pending rate case?
In its current rate case, Xcel claims higher rates are needed to support additional capital investments, keep up with growing demand for electricity, and to modernize and strengthen Xcel’s transmission and distribution systems. However, other factors drive Xcel’s latest rate increase request.
Notably, Xcel is again requesting a significant increase to its authorized return on equity (ROE). Authorized ROE helps determine how much money the utility is permitted to collect from its customers in order to distribute profits to its shareholders. At a simple level, the higher the authorized ROE, the more customers pay, and the more shareholders profit. Xcel seeks to increase its authorized ROE from 9.25 percent to 10.3 percent—a significant increase that, if approved, would alone require collecting approximately $100 million more per year from Minnesota customers. This is a bold request that has little chance of approval: Minnesota’s PUC has not approved an authorized ROE above 10 percent for any regulated utility in at least a decade.
In Xcel’s last electric rate case, Xcel requested a 10.2 percent ROE, but the PUC authorized a much lower, 9.25 percent ROE. When the PUC announced this decision in June of 2023, Xcel reacted angrily. An Xcel representative suggested that the company would reassess its ability to lead Minnesota’s clean energy transition. Xcel also claimed the PUC’s decision caused Xcel’s stock price to go down.
Now, after two-and-a-half years of Xcel’s Minnesota utility operating with a 9.25 percent authorized ROE, Xcel reports “In 2025, Xcel Energy delivered on our earnings guidance for the 21st year in a row - one of the best track records in the industry.” Meanwhile, Xcel’s stock price is hit all-time record highs in the fall of 2025 and remains far higher in early 2026 than it was when the Minnesota PUC announced its last Xcel electric rate case decision in June 2023.
It also appears a 9.25 percent ROE has not negatively affected Xcel’s credit rating, financial integrity, or ability to attract capital. Xcel’s earnings reports show that credit ratings for its Minnesota utility have remained stable over the past five years. Xcel’s Board of Directors recently voted to increase its quarterly dividend —the 23rd consecutive year that it has done so—showing Xcel continues to maintain strong financial integrity. Xcel press releases suggest Xcel has successfully raised significant capital in recent years. And, again, Xcel’s annual profits continue to rise.
If Xcel is able to attract capital, maintain financial integrity and credit worthiness, and increase profits with a 9.25 percent authorized ROE in Minnesota, how can the company justify the purported need for a substantial increase to its ROE? This is a question CUB is hitting hard in this rate case. Ultimately, Xcel has the burden to prove any authorized ROE appropriately balances the regulated utilities’ opportunity to earn a reasonable return with utility ratepayers’ right to pay just and reasonable rates. Minnesota law requires that doubt over the reasonableness of Xcel’s rates must be resolved in ratepayers’ favor.
At a time when many Minnesotans are struggling to pay their energy bills—and at a time when Xcel’s disconnection numbers have reached a historic high— Xcel’s authorized ROE should go down, not up. CUB is recommending that the PUC reject Xcel’s latest request to increase its authorized ROE and instead lower it to 9.0 percent.
Get involved
Technically, the deadline for filing a public comment on this rate case passed on December 30, 2025. This means that any public comment you file now will not be formally included in the evidentiary record considered by the PUC. That said, you still can add your name and thoughts to the 8,000+ who have already filed public comments in this docket by following instructions available here. If you file a comment, you should reference PUC Docket Number 24-320 and keep in mind that your comment will be publicly viewable on the PUC’s electronic filing database.
