Xcel Energy 2007 Annual Report Download - page 9

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XCEL ENERGY | 2007 ANNUAL REPORT
Today, in fact, Xcel Energy is the No. 1 wind power provider
in the nation, with about 2,700 megawatts on line at the
end of 2007 and plans to deliver about 7,400 megawatts
by 2020. To leverage the value of that commitment, we
also plan to own more wind facilities, including the
Grand Meadow wind farm, a 100-megawatt facility in
Minnesota that should be complete this year. We also
operate Windsource® , which is the nation’s largest
voluntary wind energy program. Through the program,
our customers pay a little more on their energy bills to
support the development of wind power.
Solar energy is another important part of our renewable
portfolio. Xcel Energy was instrumental in the construction
of an 8.2-megawatt solar facility in Colorado that began
operating in 2007. By 2015, we plan to bring 225 additional
megawatts of solar power on line. And we offer rebates
to residential and business customers for installing on-site
solar systems through a program called Solar*Rewards. In
2007, we connected our 1,000th Solar*Rewards customer
and expect to see hundreds of additional customers
participate this year.
We’re just as proud of our efforts to help customers
conserve energy and manage its use. Since 1992, our
customers have saved the equivalent of nine medium-
sized power plants. Going forward, our energy conservation
objectives are even more ambitious as we work to meet
new standards in a variety of states in our service territory.
From large projects to small, technology will play a vital
role in addressing global climate change. In 2007, we
explored with the U.S. Department of Energy the feasibility
of using wind power to create hydrogen that can generate
electricity when the wind isn’t blowing.
Our Renewable Development Fund will support 22
renewable energy projects selected to receive nearly
$23 million in funding, and we initiated a six-month
demonstration of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles to test
their viability in lowering greenhouse gases.
Looking to the future, we’ve launched an initiative called
Smart Grid that will further engage customers in controlling
their energy use and helping us achieve our environmental
objectives. Smart Grid benefits include reducing our carbon
footprint, saving money, supporting plug-in hybrid electric
vehicles and intelligent appliances and increasing the
reliability of the electric grid.
Finally, we can’t forget the role nuclear energy plays
in achieving a clean energy future. Our Prairie Island
and Monticello nuclear plants are not only safe and
operationally sound, they are emission-free, which was
a major factor in our decision to increase the plants’
generating capacity by about 235 megawatts over the next
few years. We’ve received the required state and federal
approvals needed to extend the operating life of Monticello
for 20 more years until 2030 and also are working to extend
the operating licenses for the two units at Prairie Island for
an additional 20 years until 2033 and 2034, respectively.
In 2007, we began to move nuclear operations that had
been performed by Nuclear Management Company (NMC)
to Xcel Energy. NMC, a company formed by our predeces-
sor Northern States Power Co. and several other utilities,
had operated our nuclear plants since 2000. When NMC’s
other owners sold their nuclear plants for a variety of
reasons and left NMC, we became the sole remaining
member and decided to reintegrate nuclear operations.
The reintegration will be completed this year when the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission approves transfer of the
plants’ operating licenses back to our NSP-Minnesota
operating company.
Xcel Energy employee Kenneth Long