

Exhibit 23.01


                 INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' CONSENT


     We consent to the incorporation by reference in Registration Statement
No. 2-74630 on Form S-16 and Registration Statement Nos. 33-43812 and 33-54534
on Form S-3 (relating to the Northern States Power Company Dividend
Reinvestment and Stock Purchase Plan), Registration Statement No. 2-61264 on
Form S-8 (relating to the Northern States Power Company Employee Stock
Ownership Plan), Registration Statement No. 33-38700 on Form S-8 (relating to
the Northern States Power Company Executive Long-Term Incentive Award Stock
Plan), and in Registration Statement No. 33-51593 on Form S-3 (relating to the
Northern States Power Company $600,000,000 Principal Amount of First Mortgage
Bonds) of our report dated February 8, 1995, which expresses an unqualified
opinion and includes an explanatory paragraph relating to the change in method
of accounting for postretirement health care costs in 1993 appearing in this
Annual Report on Form 10-K of Northern States Power Company for the year ended
December 31, 1994.








DELOITTE & TOUCHE LLP
Minneapolis, Minnesota
March 27, 1995

