Data Scientist at Xcel Energy
Minneapolis, MN
$97,600–$138,600from the description
Jul 20, 2026
Minneapolis, MN
Jul 22, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A data science role embedded within an energy utility's long-term planning team, focused on electric and natural gas infrastructure. Day-to-day work involves building and validating statistical and machine learning models, cleaning and transforming large datasets, and producing visualizations to guide decisions around load growth, electrification, distributed energy resources, and decarbonization. Suits a candidate with at least three years of applied data science or development experience.
Mid level · 3+ years · Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI · Bachelor's required · Full-time
Posted 2 times — it's one opening, so apply once.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Roughly 300 people in the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI area plausibly meet what this posting asks for (data scientists). range 220–390
Applicant volume Moderate — A normal amount of company. The rare requirements below are what will separate a shortlisted application from the rest.
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $132,634 (middle half $96,834–$166,533). This posting is about at that midpoint.
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (7)
The job title is 'Data Scientist' with no seniority level modifier, so advertised seniority is Unspecified. The minimum requirement of 3 years (or 2 with an MS/PhD) and the scope of responsibilities (model development, validation, deployment support, exploratory analysis) align with a Mid-level role.
Xcel Energy is headquartered in Minneapolis, MN; no specific city is stated in the posting, so the CBSA is inferred from the company's known headquarters.
SQL, Python, R, machine learning, statistical analysis, and data visualization are all listed in the Essential Responsibilities section with firm language ('using tools like SQL, Python, and R'; 'Use statistical techniques and machine learning algorithms'), treating them as hard gates.
MLOps is mentioned only as an example of a relevant certification ('i.e. MLOps, data platform certs, etc.') in the context of substituting for a post-graduate degree — it is not a standalone skill requirement.
Experience in the regulated utility industry is listed under 'Preferred Requirement' and is therefore preferred, not required — it is a domain/industry qualifier rather than a named technology, so it is omitted from the skills list per extraction rules.
The degree requirement is Bachelor's; the JD states equivalent certifications can substitute for a post-graduate degree but does not waive the Bachelor's itself, so the degree requirement is set to Bachelors.
The alt SOC 15-2031 (Operations Research Analysts) is noted as a runner-up given the strong emphasis on optimization, infrastructure investment modeling, and long-term planning alongside the ML/statistics work.
Read the full posting
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