They don't do change well -- in fact they don't do it at all. Glacially stultifying environment for people who like to do things --like professionals and engineers. They're obsessed with all the current vogue stuff -- pluralism, political correctness to the max, doing the "right thing" as their management sees it. They're terrified of negative press, in fact, any press at all. There's a lot of internal cronyism and lack of competence among top managers. They have a tendency to react after the horses are out of the barn. "Shoot the messenger" is alive and well at Xcel, and always has been a long time. The managers can't openly say anything but the party line without risking their positions. The union, the IBEW, is actually quite good. I was never a member but respected the guys who were. They more or less professionals, which is not what you might expect. The union has looked out for their members' interests well over the years. Having said all the negatives, there are still some great managers at Xcel. You only wish a company like them could somehow grow beyond their good ole' boy utility pants. If they did, it could be a super neat place to work.
For contractors, they're tough. They don't use effective project management, and they expect miracles with no money. Their managers inevitably change the scope of projects as they go along. It's hard to imagine a worse company for contractors to work for. A word to the wise is dont do any work for Xcel without a prepaid deal, because they will make verbal agreements and stick it to them, without ever questioning the ethics of what they do. There's a reason why events like Sherco and Cabin Creek occurred (five dead $30 million south) -- Xcel's project management practices and tendency to blame contractors for everything they (Xcel) didn't do. They low-ball bids like Cabin Creek and wonder when things go wrong. Same thing happened at Sherco ($250 million south, in litigation with GE). Not all utilities are that way (blameblameblame), although others who do contract work are more sensitive to contractor issues.
