MPR News reports...

Bob Frenzel runs Xcel Energy, headquartered here in Minneapolis. Xcel is one of the country’s largest energy providers, distributing electricity to 6.1 million electric and natural gas customers across eight states.

MPR’s senior economic contributor Chris Farrell spoke with Frenzel at a Tuesday luncheon event sponsored by the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management.

The biggest standout from the conversation was the sheer scale of investment going into data centers — the specialized facilities powering the rise of artificial intelligence. We’re talking $600 billion in investment this year alone. Frenzel put that in perspective.

“That’s real, physical factories — concrete, steel, wires, cables,” Frenzel said. “Last year, the entire electric utility industry spent $200 billion on transmission and distribution infrastructure. So just consider the size and scale of the investment getting made.”

Frenzel said if it’s done right, your electric bill should actually come down. He pointed to the Google data center recently announced in Pine Island. Google will ultimately want 1,000 megawatts of capacity — that’s 11 percent of the entire Upper Midwest load. However, the company will pay for the new generation themselves.