Xcel Energy 2008 Annual Report Download - page 7

Xcel Energy
2008 Annual Report page 5
As part of that strategy, we reached satisfactory
conclusions in 2008 in regulatory cases in
Wisconsin and North Dakota, and filed additional
rate cases in Minnesota, Colorado and New
Mexico, which should add revenue this year.
We also are making excellent progress on
several large construction projects.
In Minnesota, we completed the conversion
of our High Bridge plant from a coal-fired to a
natural gas facility. The project is part of a larger
emission-reduction effort that included completely
refurbishing our coal-fired King plant and ongoing
work to convert our Riverside plant from coal to
natural gas. Overall, the effort, which should be
complete this year, adds about 300 megawatts
of generating capacity while significantly
reducing emissions.
In Colorado, work progressed on Comanche 3,
a 750-megawatt generating unit at our Comanche
coal-fired facility near Pueblo that should be
operational this year. 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.
Significant investment in our transmission system
prepares us for a clean energy future. With new
construction and various upgrades, we will be
able to deliver much more renewable energy than
ever before. In Minnesota and Colorado, we are
working with other energy companies to develop
transmission plans to meet regional needs. In
Texas, we are strengthening our transmission
system to support strong agricultural and industrial
demand for electricity in the Panhandle and
accommodate more wind interconnections.
Once again, our large capital projects provide
opportunities to build financial value for you,
while increasing reliability and improving the
environment.
Caring for the environment
In fact, environmental leadership drives all of
our energy resource decisions, and our record
illustrates the strength of that commitment.
For the third year in a row, Xcel Energy was the
No. 1 provider of wind energy in the nation,
according to the American Wind Energy
Association. We had almost 3,000 megawatts
of wind energy on our system at the end of 2008,
with plans to include about 7,400 megawatts by
2020. And we launched an effort to own more of
that wind energy when our 100-megawatt Grand
Meadow wind farm began commercial operations
at the end of the year. We also signed contracts
for the development of another 351 megawatts
of owned wind in southwestern Minnesota and
North Dakota.
We are making great strides in the solar arena,
too. We’re No. 5 in the nation for solar power
capacity and manage a fast-growing program
in Colorado called Solar*Rewards that offers
rebates to residential and business customers
for installing on-site solar systems. Applications
for the program increased significantly last year,
and we are expanding the effort to New Mexico.
We also announced plans to acquire up to 600
megawatts of concentrating solar power, with