Xcel Energy (NYSE:XEL) announced that it intends to acquire 775 megawatts of new wind power capacity for its Colorado system by 2007. The additional capacity would make Xcel Energy the nation’s largest utility user of wind power. The announcement is part of filings made with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on the company’s Least-Cost (Resource) Plan (LCP), a process designed to address the state’s growing energy demand. Xcel Energy also announced today that it intends to acquire approximately 1,300 megawatts of natural gas-fired generation from new and existing facilities between 2007 and 2012.
In addition, the company intends to acquire up to 30 megawatts of energy efficiency supplied by bidders, known as Demand-Side Management (DSM). Xcel Energy has committed $196 million in company-sponsored initiatives for the remainder of the DSM program, which would be an additional 290 megawatts.
Xcel Energy — which currently has 282 megawatts of wind in-service or under-construction in Colorado — would increase its overall wind capacity in the state by 275 percent. Xcel Energy estimates that it also would meet the non-solar mandates of the voter-approved Renewable Energy Standard through 2014, essentially meeting the standard seven years earlier than required.
Companywide, Xcel Energy — which operates in 10 states — expects to have more than 1,100 megawatts of owned or purchased wind capacity on its system by early 2006, increasing to more than 2,300 megawatts of wind capacity by the end of 2007. This includes more than 1,000 megawatts each in Colorado and Minnesota.
Xcel Energy cautioned that while it is aggressively seeking to add more wind power in Colorado, the ultimate success of permitting, constructing and placing new wind farms into commercial operation remains in the hands of independent wind developers.
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