CFO Interview

Bob Frenzel is the CFO at Xcel Energy (XEL), one of the largest and greenest utilities in the US. Tune in to the Buyside podcast to hear Bob breakdown everything you’ve wanted to know about utility investing. Topics discussed include the regulatory process, renewable energy, carbon-free target, replacement cost, and how to value utilities.

In this interview, you’ll hear Bob talk about some of the elements that are required for a utility to be, well, a great utility. You’ll also hear about Xcel’s carbon-free ambitions and what the company will have to do to achieve their targets. And here’s a spoiler, achieving a carbon-free generation portfolio isn’t solely based on wind, solar, and batteries. The solution is actually much more complicated than pundits would like you to believe.

Bob also does a great job of describing just what the regulatory process is like for a utility, how a utility justifies spending money that we, as ratepayers, essentially pay for, and Bob also talks a little about how a utility determines the rates that we as customers must pay. As someone who likes to talk about the future of electric generation and utilities, having Bob on the program is a real treat, but for me, there are two really interesting topics that are discussed.

The first is the fact that regulated utilities don’t generate a ton of free cash flow. That’s because they’re constantly reinvesting into the grid. The second relates to replacement cost or replacement value. I won’t spoil that last one. It’s a doozy, at least for the value investors out there!