NewQ1 2026 Clean Energy Deal Intelligence Report is live

Rob Berntsen

Developer / IPP ExecutiveTrack

EVP and Chief Legal and Compliance Officer at Xcel Energy

15

Deals Attributed

$643M

Deal Value

7.7

GW Capacity

2

Positions Held

Career Timeline

EVP and Chief Legal and Compliance Officer

Xcel Energy

Aug 2024Present

Senior Vice President, Chief of Staff and General Counsel

BHE Renewables

Jan 2020Aug 2024

Attributed Deals(15 deals)

Deals attributed based on Rob Berntsen's role at the firm during the transaction.

2026(7 deals)
Feb 2026DeveloperColorado Near Term Procurement (NTP) — 10 projects: ~3,200-4,100 MW solar, wind, storage, and gas across ColoradoFinancingSolar + Storage3,196 MW
Feb 2026Developer1.9 GW clean energy package for Pine Island data center — 1,400 MW wind + 200 MW solar + 300 MW / 2,400 MWh LDES (Form Energy iron-air)PPASolar + Storage1,900 MW
Apr 2026DeveloperXcel Energy CapacityConnect Phase 2 — 50–200 MW utility-owned battery storage program, $430M budget, approved by Minnesota PUC on April 8, 2026OtherBESS$430M200 MW
Apr 2026DeveloperXcel Energy Plant X Solar — 150 MW utility-scale solar PV, near Earth, TX (Lamb County), ~1,200 acres — entered commercial service April 1, 2026OtherSolar150 MW
Apr 2026DeveloperXcel Energy Cunningham 1 Solar + Battery Storage — 72 MW solar + 36 MW BESS, near Hobbs, NM — entered commercial service April 1, 2026OtherSolar + Storage72 MW
Feb 2026OfftakerDusty Rose WindPPAWind502 MW
Feb 2026OfftakerMinnDakota WindPPAWind150 MW
2025(1 deal)
Dec 2025OfftakerMilo Wind ProjectPPAWind50 MW
2024(1 deal)
Feb 2024DeveloperFlat Top Wind IPPAWind200 MW
2022(1 deal)
Jun 2022DeveloperBHE wind project (Kraft Heinz first wind VPPA) — 110 MW VPPA, MISO/SPP region, COD 2023PPAWind110 MW
2021(1 deal)
Jun 2021BuyerIndependence Wind FarmM&AWind55.4 MW
2020(4 deals)
Sep 2020Lender/ArrangerAviator Wind — 525 MW (Coke County TX), largest single-phase single-site US wind at CODFinancingWind525 MW
Jun 2020FinancierTG East WindFinancingWind336 MW
Nov 2020FinancierBitter Ridge Wind FarmFinancingWind$213M146.6 MW
Oct 2020FinancierWillow Creek Wind PowerFinancingWind105 MW
How deal attribution works: Deals are attributed to individuals based on their role at a firm during the transaction period. C-suite executives and senior partners/MDs are attributed deals where their firm was involved as a principal, counsel, advisor, or lender. This is an inference — not all attributed individuals necessarily worked directly on every deal.