Xcel Energy has consistently maintained there is no evidence of health effects from power lines.

In September 1999, Xcel (then NSP) wrote a letter to a Minnesota newspaper saying:

"The simple fact is that after more than 20 years of intensive research on power lines and EMF, and recent examination of that body of research by our country's most prestigious government research organizations, there is no evidence of health effects from power lines or exposure to EMF, even at high levels."

In the same letter, it went on to malign those who believed there were health effects:

"Unfortunately, even these scientific findings do not stop opponents from alleging precisely the opposite.  We all must recognize that opponents are arguing their personal opinions about EMF against the overwhelming scientific facts established by our nations most respected medical and public health institutions."

In a brochure copyrighted in 2000,  titled Electric and Magnetic Fields-Answers to Frequently Asked Questions, Xcel repeated the first statement, word for word.

Xcel now believes EMF may be dangerous. 

In a court affidavit dated June 14, 2000, an Xcel official agreed that, when electric fields equal or exceed 1 kV/m (which is common near power lines), "EMF can interfere with pacemakers."  The official then took care to note this effect was entirely separate from EMF's cancer-causing potential.  "The EMF described above is specifically related to those external electric fields that could potential interfere with the pacemaker's ability to sense normal electrical activity in the heart.  The effect described above is different from other health effects of EMF exposure previously described in published scientific studies which examine the risk of cancer and other adverse effects on human health or reproducible biological effects."

A local paper reports in a January 17, 2001, article, an Xcel official, referring to the association between EMF and cancer, concedes that "...The issue is still open." The official adds, "And I think we still need additional research and an attempt to look at higher exposures, which has not been done in the past."