Xcel Energy‘s 550 MW Unit 1 at its Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant in Minnesota began a planned four- to six-week refueling outage late last Friday, meaning the multi-state utility holding company will be drawing on added supplies from its other generation sources or purchasing more power in the wholesale market. The refueling comes after more than 500 days of continuous operation of the unit, Xcel said. The unit is one of two at the 1,100 MW plant in Red Wing, MN. One of the reactors typically is refueled every 18 months.

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