USA fleet members Prairie Island and Monticello hosted the New Mexico Amigos, the official goodwill ambassadors of New Mexico, including Gov. Susana Martinez and civic and business leaders from the state recently. New Mexico is experiencing significant economic and industrial growth, especially in its southeast, and offers Xcel Energy the opportunity to meet the state’s needs for new and improved electrical infrastructure.
In partnership with Xcel Energy community relations managers from both New Mexico and Minnesota, the nuclear stations rolled out the red carpet with more than 150 touring the power plants and their training centers.
The group proceeded directly from their airplane onto four coach buses, with two going to Monticello and two going to Prairie Island. On the bus ride to the plants the Amigos were briefed on nuclear energy in Minnesota. The ride was also an opportunity for the group to discuss some of the challenges faced by Xcel Energy and other nuclear operators in the country, including safety upgrades, used fuel storage and the general business environment.
“We’re always honored to host visitors at our facilities and show off the tremendous work and dedication our employees demonstrate every day,” said Scott Northard, Vice President of Licensing and Common Services. “When dignitaries such as Governor Martinez are interested in our facilities it makes it that much more special for our teams.”
In addition to touring the nuclear facilities, the community relations teams have coordinated a number of meetings and events to connect the New Mexico business community with their counterparts in Minnesota. A reception the evening of Tuesday, May 5, which will include remarks by Xcel Energy CEO Ben Fowke, is one such opportunity.
Monticello is in the midst of its refueling outage and Prairie Island continues an outage on Unit 1 to repair a reactor coolant pump. Outages are among the busiest times at the nuclear plants and the coordination among several teams to ensure the tours could proceed was tremendous.
“The Amigos group, our community relations teams, and all of us at Xcel Energy offer a huge thank you to all of the people in nuclear who supported the tour,” said Northard. “The security teams, training center, and others who made time in their schedules for this group stepped up and made sure the event was interesting, educational and informative, and their group told us many times how appreciative they are of our efforts.”
Kevin Davison, Site Vice President, Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant, Xcel Energy, accepts a commemorative gift from New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez and New Mexico Amigos President Mike Miller.