Outside the Allen King Power Plant in Oak Park Heights Minn., which Xcel plans to close and replace with a solar farm project in St. Croix County. Photo: Jack White/Star-Observer.
Outside the Allen King Power Plant in Oak Park Heights Minn., which Xcel plans to close and replace with a solar farm project in St. Croix County. Photo: Jack White/Star-Observer.
St. Croix County and Xcel Energy had been in talks over a joint development agreement in light of the energy company’s proposed Ten Mile Creek Solar Project in the region. Now, those talks have fallen through, according to representatives of both parties.
County Administrator Ken Witt announced in a St. Croix County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday that the energy company has declined to negotiate a JDA further before filing a proposal with the Public Service Commission. Witt said at the meeting: “Their response is ‘no JDA. We plan to file at the end of the year with the PSC, and maybe we’ll talk again after that.’”
Chris Ouellette, a spokesperson for Xcel, confirmed in a statement Thursday that Xcel would be “open to restarting discussions” after the energy company has sent a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to the state’s PSC. Xcel states on its website that the company’s plan is to file in 2026.
Ouellette said of the talks with the county, “After much discussion about working collaboratively toward mutually beneficial outcomes, we were incredibly surprised by the County’s decision to not meet or communicate with us over the past seven months.”
“The final document recently shared with our attorneys differs materially from the last version we reviewed in November 2025, as well as the version we started with, which was based on an actual Joint Development Agreement executed by a nearby county for a solar-battery project that Xcel Energy will own and operate,” Ouellette’s statement continued.
Witt did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Xcel’s assertions. However, Director of Community Development Jason Kjeseth told the Community Development Committee in February that legal counsel and Xcel had not met since November 2025, which would align with the seven-month timeline.
Witt said at the meeting Tuesday that the subject will be taken up at the next Community Development Committee meeting, June 11. As it stands, the development committee has a resolution on the agenda that will address at a future date whether “to proceed with intervening in the Public Service Commission,” once Xcel files its application. If the committee decides to approve that resolution, it will go to the county board for a final vote.
“It takes two to negotiate, so there’s not really action that you can take to force them to, but that’s the status of that and the next step in the process will be to the committee for action,” Witt said at the meeting this week.
Xcel looks to deliver approximately 300 megawatts of solar energy and 300 megawatts of battery energy storage with the solar farm, replacing the Allen S. King Plant, which it plans to close, the company said on its website. If approved, Xcel plans to build on 2,980 acres spanning the towns of Erin Prairie and Hammond in St. Croix County.
While proponents of the project say that solar energy provides benefits for the environment, a Change.org petition that includes over 5,300 signatures argues that the solar farm would harm local properties and the essence of rural culture.
Xcel said on its website, “solar projects can disrupt wildlife habitats, especially during construction. However, all the land leased for the solar project is existing farmland, which means less disruption than if a forest were cleared.”
In September of 2025, the county board voted to serve as an intervenor at the PSC level, while discussing a joint development agreement with Xcel. The board hired legal representation to discuss the JDA, a potential agreement between the two parties on aspects of the plan such as setbacks and community investment. But in terms of local governments contesting the PSC, there’s not a track record of success, Witt said in June 2025.
“You’re not going to be successful,” Witt said of contesting the state agency responsible for regulating public utilities. He added: “So that’s why we’re pursuing the JDA.”
Asked about what led to negotiations failing, Ouellette said that the document sent to Xcel “goes well beyond the original intent and includes more than 40 entirely new substantive paragraphs that were added without any discussion with Xcel Energy.”
The spokesperson added that the document shared with her company would result in significant added costs to Xcel Energy’s customers — including ones in St. Croix County — and that the costs were “in excess of existing state requirements and outside of the County’s authority.”
“The document also now includes provisions that are solely within the purview of the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSCW), not St. Croix County,” Ouellette said in a statement.
The Community Development Committee approved sending the JDA with updated comments from the public and committee members to Xcel in February. Ryan Sherley, a committee member at the time, voted to add a detail to the proposal: for the county’s legal representation to reach out to Xcel about where the two parties were on a timeline. Legal representation incorporated those changes and sent the updated plan to Xcel on April 10, according to the resolution on the docket June 11.
Before the vote, some residents advocated against sending over the plan, because they believed too many compromises were reached based on the proposal’s details. Board member Kerry Reis said she had concerns about submitting the plan without hearing what Xcel thought.
“We don’t know if Xcel will accept or reject anything in here,” Reis said.
This week, the county found out Xcel’s answer.
This is a breaking news story, so the Star-Observer may update this article upon hearing more information.
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