Xcel Energy 2014 Annual Report Download - page 5

Xcel Energy
Annual Report 2014 3
the fth consecutive year we’ve delivered results
in the upper half of our guidance range. Since 2005,
in fact, we’ve achieved annual ongoing earnings
growth of 6.5 percent.
We also increased your dividend 7 percent in 2014,
marking the 11th consecutive year of dividend
growth and more than meeting our growth target
of 4 percent to 6 percent. Earlier this year, we
increased the dividend 6.7 percent and raised our
growth target to 5 percent to 7 percent, reecting
the condence we have in our business plan and
our nancial exibility.
Performance over time is proof of our ability to
meet your expectations, but reaching challenging
benchmarks also illustrates nancial strength. In
2014, our stock price rose nearly 29 percent, the
strongest annual increase in more than a decade.
Total return, which incorporates stock price
performance and dividend payments, was an
impressive 33.5 percent, the highest in more than
10 years, which exceeded the average of our peer
group as well as the EEI Investor-Owned Electrics.
For the rst time ever, we realized $1 billion in net
income, a reection in part of better-than-expected
sales growth. Our market capitalization grew to
almost $19 billion. Market capitalization is a function
of our share price, which again hit record highs in
2014, enabling us to outperform our utility peer
group and the broader market.
Finally, our balance sheet and credit metrics are
strong, which allow us to access capital markets at
attractive rates. That’s important because we plan
to invest $14.5 billion over the next ve years in our
electric and natural gas businesses for stronger,
more resilient energy systems.
We know you have options for your investment
dollars, so we work hard to consistently meet
our nancial targets and deliver for you.
With an outstanding year behind us and good
prospects for 2015, we are reafrming our
2015 ongoing earnings guidance of $2.00 to
$2.15 per share.
Operating milestones illustrate excellence
Our operating performance was equally
impressive in 2014, when we hit several signicant
milestones—starting with customer satisfaction.
Among surveyed customers, 94 percent gave us
positive marks for overall satisfaction, appreciating
our concern for safety, support of renewable
resources, reliable service, reasonable rates
and corporate citizenship.
We also demonstrated strong reliability
performance. Among large electric utilities in the
Midwest, Xcel Energy ranked second in J.D. Power’s
2015 Electric Utility Business Customer Satisfaction
Study, which also indicated that each of our
operating companies improved their performance.
In another milestone, Xcel Energy employees
achieved their best safety performance ever, with
injuries down 21 percent. That puts us in a strong
position to achieve a rst-quartile industry ranking
and is a tribute to the diligence of employees and
our Journey to Zero safety initiative.
For an entire decade, we’ve been the No. 1 provider
of wind energy in the nation, according to the
American Wind Energy Association. We set a record
for wind generation produced in one hour in 2014
and met 15 percent of electric demand with wind