Xcel Energy 2007 Annual Report Download - page 7

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XCEL ENERGY | 2007 ANNUAL REPORT
A SUCCESSFUL STRATEGY
As part of meeting our financial goals, we continued
to execute our long-term corporate strategy, which
is a straightforward plan that starts with listening to
customers, who want reliable energy produced in an
environmentally responsible way. We make significant
investments to meet those customer needs, but before
we invest, we work with regulators and legislators to
ensure that the regulatory rules are in place to enable
us to recover our costs and earn a fair return. In the end,
everyone benefits. Customers are satisfied, our impact
on the environment is lessened and our shareholders
earn a solid return.
In 2007, we made good progress on several significant
investments that illustrate our strategy in action. We
completed the refurbishment of our Allen S. King coal-
fired plant in Minnesota by adding state-of-the-art
emission-reduction equipment and rehabilitating existing
generating equipment. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty
joined us for a dedication ceremony, calling Xcel Energy
one of the most progressive utilities in the nation in
terms of environmental responsibility. As part of our
larger emission-reduction effort, we also are converting
two coal-fired plants in Minnesota to natural gas and are
seeking permission to refurbish Sherco, our largest coal-
fired plant in the state. Each project adds generating
capacity while reducing emissions, so we address
reliability along with environmental protection.
In Colorado, work continued on Comanche 3, a 750-
megawatt generating unit at our Comanche coal-fired
facility near Pueblo. It’s a project we started several
years ago after reaching a comprehensive settlement
with several prominent environmental groups. We will
own 500 megawatts of the new unit and are fitting all
three units with advanced emission-reduction equipment.
As a result, we will more than double the capacity of the
entire Comanche facility, while lowering overall sulfur
dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from the plant.
The new unit should be operational in late 2009.
Transmission construction represented another significant
investment, with 2007 as a record year. Among other
transmission projects, we increased our ability to deliver
wind power from the Buffalo Ridge in Minnesota from
425 megawatts of wind energy to 825 megawatts,
representing the largest transmission investment in the
state in decades. Looking ahead, we are part of consortia
in Minnesota and Colorado that are examining regional
transmission needs into the future. The effort is further
along in Minnesota, where we’ve joined 10 other utilities
seeking to build about 700 miles of new transmission line
in the first phase of transmission system expansion.
ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERSHIP
Most satisfying of all, our major capital projects—in
addition to building financial value—demonstrate our
environmental leadership. Environmental issues such as
global climate change represent some of the toughest
challenges and public policy concerns that our industry
has ever experienced. Meeting them will require new
ways of producing, managing and delivering energy while
maintaining reliability and competitive prices. In the long
run, our environmental strategy contributes to our growth
prospects, increases reliability and ultimately lowers costs.
In 2007, we made important strides in addressing
environmental challenges when we filed resource plans in
Minnesota and Colorado that outline how Xcel Energy will
meet future energy demand and legislative requirements.
For the first time ever, our resource plans described how
we will reduce carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, by
incorporating clean energy technologies in our portfolio.
Xcel Energy employee Helena Haynes-Carter