Executive Profiles

David M. Sparby

 President and CEO, Northern States Power Company-Minnesota, an Xcel Energy Company

David M. Sparby is  president and chief executive officer, Northern States Power Company-Minnesota, an Xcel Energy Company and responsible for the company’s electric and natural gas operations in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. He most recently served as Xcel Energy’s vice president of Government and Regulatory Affairs. Sparby joined Northern States Power Company-Minnesota in 1982 as a staff attorney, and has served as director of Gas Supply, managing director of Corporate Rates, general manager of Regulatory Services and vice president of Regulatory Affairs.

In 2008, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty appointed Sparby to the Midwestern Greenhouse Gas Accord Advisory Group that is developing recommendations on a regional carbon cap-and-trade mechanism for the Midwestern Governors Association.

The group is charged with recommending:

• Greenhouse gas reduction targets and timeframes;
• A market-based and multi-sector cap-and-trade mechanism;
• A system to enable tracking for entities that reduce greenhouse emissions; and
• Additional steps as needed to achieve the reduction targets.

In addition, Sparby served on the Minnesota Climate Change Advisory Group (MCCAG).

Sparby serves as a trustee on the Metropolitan State University board and on the external advisory council of the University of Minnesota Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment. He earned a law degree from William Mitchell College, St. Paul; a master's degree in business administration from the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul; and a bachelor's degree in history from College of St. Scholastica, Duluth, Minn.