The Challenge
Xcel Energy is a U.S. regulated electric utility serving more than 3.7 million electric customers across 8 states.
The company set out to build 535 miles of new electric transmission line across a rural portion of its Colorado service territory, alongside 4 new substations, 3 substation expansions, and a series of voltage regulator additions.
The buildout was designed to support green power generation, including new wind farms connecting to the expanded grid, and to bring clean energy to major metropolitan hubs in Colorado. The scale and complexity of the program demanded a level of project controls rigor that the existing team was not resourced to deliver alone.
The Solution
Motive Power provided Dual Schedule and Cost Analysts, an Invoice Analysis Lead, and a Project Controls Lead to build and run the controls infrastructure the program required.
Led critical path analysis to track performance of major activities against project milestones across all workstreams.
Created and implemented automated cost analysis reports (CARS) that eliminated manual data entry, saving an average of $100k per year in labor costs.
Developed portfolio cashflow reporting to give leadership financial visibility not previously available anywhere in the organization.
Implemented EV reporting to drive performance accountability across construction contractors.
Key Metrics
The Results
$100k per year in savings from eliminating manual data entry for Cost Analyst Reports (CARS).
Portfolio CAR reporting now gives leadership a single view of program financials, schedules, earned value, and KPI metrics.
Monthly KPI metrics analysis, pioneered by the Motive Power team, became standard practice across the Xcel Energy program.
Vendor forecasts received by the team are 15% more accurate than those received by counterparts outside of the PMO and program.
