Xcel Energy 2004 Annual Report Download - page 8

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Xcel Energy Annual Report 2004
6
has rates and a regulatory process in place that will allow it to recover its costs of
providing service. Several regulatory fi lings were under way in 2004 to change rates,
and we plan to fi le for additional rate increases in 2005.
Our Building the Core strategy served us well in 2004 and should create even greater
benefi ts going forward as projects are completed. It’s a simple yet powerful plan that
addresses our most important priorities.
environmental protection
With all its activity, 2004 proved to be an energizing and optimistic year. Satisfying
the need for reliable energy is rewarding work – but also a balancing act. We balance
our obligation to customers with our lasting commitment to protect the environment,
and we do it well.
Xcel Energy is a leading utility in environmental protection. The foundation of our
effort is compliance – a major undertaking in itself, but we voluntarily go above and
beyond compliance levels, provided the investment is prudent and we earn a return
on it. Few utilities are as proactive – with the results to prove it.
– The voluntary emission-reduction programs we’ve launched in Colorado and
Minnesota are among the largest in the nation. In its second year of operation,
the Colorado effort again met its annual goal of reducing SO2 emissions by 22,000
tons and NOX emissions by 2,500 tons.
– In 2004, we announced our carbon management plan concerning emissions of
carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas. By 2009, the company will reduce total
CO2 emissions by a cumulative total of 12 million tons from 2003 levels. By 2012,
Xcel Energy will reduce CO2 intensity, which refers to pounds of CO2 emitted per
megawatt-hour, by 7 percent from 2003 levels.
– Even with electric generation growing, we were able to decrease emissions, with
generation increasing 12 percent since 1997, while the rate of SO2 emissions
decreased by 25 percent and the rate of NOX emissions decreased by 20 percent.
– We are the nation’s second-largest retail provider of wind energy, with 884 mega-
watts of wind energy in our generating portfolio at the end of 2004, and plans to
add another 712 megawatts by the end of 2005.
– Our Windsource program is the largest voluntary wind energy program in the
United States, with 38,236 customers at the end of 2004 in Colorado, Minnesota
and New Mexico.
For Xcel Energy, environmental protection is a core value that shapes every decision
we make about satisfying the energy needs of our customers.
create even greater benefi ts going forward