Xcel Energy 2010 Annual Report Download - page 9

to explore new, more efficient solar
generating technologies. During
2010, we completed installation
of a large, utility-scale advanced
battery at SolarTAC. The battery
demonstration project will support
research on energy storage as
a solution for integrating large
amounts of solar energy on our
electric distribution grid.
In terms of energy conservation,
we helped customers conserve
about 980 gigawatt-hours of
electricity in 2010, the best results
ever in one year. Our conservation
programs not only save money for
customers, they enable us to avoid
building power plants, and we are
able to earn on our efforts.
We are proud of the fact that
environmental leadership initiatives
were factors in some welcome
recognition we received in 2010.
We were named Power Company
of the Year by Platts, an energy
information organization, and we
once again were named to the Dow
Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) for
North America. Companies listed on
the DJSI are considered to be best
in class in economic, environmental
and social performance.
Building community
At Xcel Energy, we recognize that
the strength of the communities
we serve is fundamental to our
own success. We contribute to
their well-being through grants to
nonprofit organizations as well as
the volunteer time and energy of
our employees and retirees.
In 2010, Xcel Energy distributed
$4.2 million in focus area grants to
promote job training and placement,
science and math education,
environmental stewardship and
access to the arts. We also match
the contributions of employees
and retirees to our United Way
campaign, which year after year
provides perhaps the best
kind of environmental leadership—
and benefits to shareholders and
customers. Xcel Energy is the No.
1 provider of wind energy in the
nation, according to the American
Wind Energy Association. We
had more than 3,400 megawatts
of wind on line at the end of
the year and plan to have up to
5,000 megawatts by the end of
2015. In 2010, we completed our
201-megawatt Nobles wind farm
in southwestern Minnesota, making
it the second wind farm we own in
the state. We also plan to construct
a 150-megawatt wind farm in
North Dakota, which should be
operational by the end of this year.
Again, because we were proactive
about adding wind to our energy
mix, we are not only ready to meet
the requirements of state renewable
energy mandates, we’ve been
able to provide customers with
wind energy that is competitive
with energy from fossil fuel. Our
balanced resource strategy, which
includes a diverse mix of energy
sources, will continue to keep
costs reasonable.
On the solar energy front, we
expanded our Solar*Rewards
program to include Minnesota
in addition to Colorado. We also
completed the installation of
solar panels on the roof of the
Minneapolis Convention Center
in partnership with the city
of Minneapolis.
In Colorado, we successfully
implemented and tested a pilot
project that involved integrating
solar energy with an existing
coal-fired plant, making it the
world’s first solar integration using
parabolic trough solar technology.
We also saw the launch of the
Solar Technology Acceleration
Center (SolarTAC) near Denver,
a demonstration site that we
cofounded with a number of
governmental and industry leaders
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Xcel Energy employee Rick Halet, pictured above, was the project manager for the Nobles wind farm construction.