Xcel Energy customers have benefited significantly from their region’s rich renewable energy resources—and could further capitalize on those resources by exporting energy to other regions, company officials said on an earnings call to discuss 2022 results.

CEO Bob Frenzel told investors the company’s extensive wind resources had saved on the order of $1 billion in the past year as natural gas and fuel prices rose. The company’s geography, he said, provides access to abundant wind and solar resources that could represent a key competitive advantage in the future. And not just on cost. The company is looking at opportunities that could make Xcel Energy an energy exporter, “whether that’s electricity via wire or green hydrogen via pipe or trucking,” Frenzel said.

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