The Minneapolis-based utility reports first-quarter earnings of $184 million compared to $204 million in 2011. Xcel says the drop was expected because we had one of the warmest winters on record.

Capella Education, the parent company of the for-profit Capella University, says its third-quarter net income was $5.1 million, down nearly 50 percent compared to the $9.9 million it earned in the July-September quarter last year, the Associated Press reports. Even as total enrollment, revenue and net income fell, new student enrollment at the Minneapolis-based provider of online post-secondary education rose 10.5 percent compared to last year -- the first increase in nearly two years, Reuters reports.

Higher rates helped boost the electric and natural-gas utility company. However, Xcel is concerned the mild winter weather could hurt its bottom line. The Minneapolis-based company operates in eight states.

Xcel Energy says spending nearly $240 million to boost the power output at its Prairie Island nuclear plant near Red Wing is no longer a beneficial deal for customers, the Star Tribune reports. The Minneapolis-based utility first raised questions with regulators about the $310 million upgrade in March.

Xcel Energy's second-quarter earnings increased 16 percent despite a 7 percent drop in revenue, the Minneapolis-based utility reported Thursday. Xcel said earnings increased in part due to rate increases and warmer-than-normal weather across Xcel's territory, which spans eight western and Midwestern states including Minnesota.