Xcel Energy 2009 Annual Report Download - page 85

Contractual Obligations and Other Commitments — Xcel Energy has contractual obligations and other commitments
that will need to be funded in the future, in addition to its capital expenditure programs. The following is a
summarized table of contractual obligations and other commercial commitments at Dec. 31, 2009. See additional
discussion in the consolidated statements of capitalization and Notes 5, 6, and 17 to the consolidated financial
statements.
Payments Due by Period
Less than 1 to 3 4 to 5 After
Total 1 Year Years Years 5 Years
(Thousands of Dollars)
Long-term debt, principal and interest payments ...... $16,835,823 $1,043,029 $2,026,815 $1,277,458 $12,488,521
Capital lease obligations ..................... 434,313 17,147 36,100 34,759 346,307
Operating leases(a)(b) ........................ 3,322,120 175,773 358,531 398,669 2,389,147
Unconditional purchase obligations .............. 10,579,953 2,329,869 2,867,773 1,555,533 3,826,778
Other long-term obligations — WYCO investment .... 6,973 6,973 — — —
Other long-term obligations(c) .................. 162,479 31,383 60,405 57,853 12,838
Payments to vendors in process ................. 104,025 104,025 — — —
Short-term debt .......................... 459,000 459,000 — — —
Total contractual cash obligations(d)(e)(f )(g) .......... $31,904,686 $4,167,199 $5,349,624 $3,324,272 $19,063,591
(a) Under some leases, Xcel Energy would have to sell or purchase the property that it leases if it chose to terminate before the scheduled lease expiration
date. Most of Xcel Energy’s railcar, vehicle and equipment and aircraft leases have these terms. At Dec. 31, 2009, the amount that Xcel Energy would
have to pay if it chose to terminate these leases was approximately $110.3 million. In addition, at the end of the equipment lease terms, each lease
must be extended, equipment purchased for the greater of the fair value or unamortized value of equipment sold to a third party with Xcel Energy
making up any deficiency between the sales price and the unamortized value.
(b) Included in operating lease payments are $151.7 million, $307.6 million, $354.1 million and $2.3 billion, for the less than 1 year, 1-3 years, 4-5 years
and after 5 years categories, respectively, pertaining to purchase power agreements that were accounted for as operating leases.
(c) Included in other long-term obligations are tax and interest related to unrecognized tax benefits recorded as required under ASC 740 Income Taxes.
(d) Xcel Energy and its subsidiaries have contracts providing for the purchase and delivery of a significant portion of its current coal, nuclear fuel and
natural gas requirements. Additionally, the utility subsidiaries of Xcel Energy have entered into agreements with utilities and other energy suppliers for
purchased power to meet system load and energy requirements, replace generation from company-owned units under maintenance and during outages,
and meet operating reserve obligations. Certain contractual purchase obligations are adjusted based on indices. The effects of price changes are
mitigated through cost-of-energy adjustment mechanisms.
(e) Xcel Energy also has outstanding authority under contracts and blanket purchase orders to purchase up to approximately $2.1 billion of goods and
services through the year 2050, in addition to the amounts disclosed in this table and in the forecasted capital expenditures.
(f) Xcel Energy currently projects no additional pension funding obligations for 2010. At this time, pension funding contributions for 2011, which will
be dependent on several factors including realized asset performance, future discount rate, IRS and legislative initiatives as well as other actuarial
assumptions, are estimated to range between $100 million to $150 million.
(g) Xcel Energy expects to contribute approximately $45.4 million to the postretirement health care plans during 2010.
Common Stock Dividends — Future dividend levels will be dependent on Xcel Energy’s results of operations, financial
position, cash flows and other factors, and will be evaluated by the Xcel Energy Board of Directors. Xcel Energy’s
objective is to increase the annual dividend in the range of 2 percent to 4 percent per year. Xcel Energy’s dividend
policy balances:
• Projected cash generation from utility operations;
• Projected capital investment in the utility businesses;
• A reasonable rate of return on shareholder investment; and
• The impact on Xcel Energy’s capital structure and credit ratings.
In addition, there are certain statutory limitations that could affect dividend levels. Federal law places certain limits on
the ability of public utilities within a holding company system to declare dividends.
Specifically, under the Federal Power Act, a public utility may not pay dividends from any funds properly included in a
capital account. The utility subsidiaries dividends may be limited indirectly or directly by state regulatory commissions,
bond indenture covenants or restrictions under credit agreements for debt to total capitalization ratios.
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