Community Relations

Jul 13, 2021

Michelle Swanson and Blake Wenthe, XCel Energy

Community Relations

Michelle says,

Michelle says, "Xcel Energy is strongly committed to the communities we serve and we serve and our relationship with them is of the utmost importance. Right here in Minnesota, there’s a team of community relations managers whose primary purpose is to work with local governments and community leaders. Our relationship work is extensive — from negotiating franchise agreements and doing community-level outage communications, to working on complex permitting approvals and spurring growth."

Blake Wenthe

Graduated from North Dakota State University in 2016 with a degree in electrical engineering. He started working full-time as an electrical distribution designer in Minneapolis, then transitioned to be Distribution Area Engineer for Xcel Energy in 2017. He has been the Edina Area Engineer from 2017 until this past June when he transitioned to be the Area Engineer in the White Bear Lake Area. As an area engineer his focus is on ensuring system reliability and efficiency with an emphasis on providing a positive customer experience. In addition to his area engineering responsibilities he is the Large Critical Accounts engineer and provides technical and contractual support for the large critical customers, helping to ensure their reliability. In his free time he enjoys spending time outdoors, camping, hiking and fishing with his wife and two year old puppy.