Climate Action

Background | Reductions | Policy | Reporting

Background

Climate change is an increasingly important issue in this country and around the world. To address this concern, U.S. lawmakers have stepped up efforts to regulate greenhouse gases. At the federal level, it is a presidential and congressional priority, and at the state level, there are 36 U.S. states today with climate policies and 29 with renewable portfolio standards. From the regulatory side, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is working to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. We believe that within the next few years, greenhouse gases will be regulated.

At Xcel Energy, the fossil fuels we use to make electricity emit greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide. Rather than waiting for regulation, we are reducing greenhouse gases today. Our customers, communities, shareholders and employees expect us to take action. We also know through past experience that taking early action and voluntarily reducing emissions is a better way to manage costs, which ultimately benefits everyone.

Carbon Dioxide Reduction Efforts

We were one of the first utilities in the nation with a plan to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and since 2003, we have reduced these emissions by about 8 percent. In 2007, we introduced and have begun implementing groundbreaking resource plans that will help us to achieve a 15 percent reduction in CO2 emissions by 2020 from 2005 levels.

Under these plans, we will:

• Increase overall system wind capacity from 2,800 megawatts (MW) at the end of 2008 to more than 7,000 MW by 2020;
• Add between 200 MW and 600 MW of solar thermal technology, with storage;
• Increase the size of our customer energy efficiency and conservation programs, resulting in a reduction in retail demand.
• Retire and/or repower several existing coal-fired electric generating facilities; and
• Upgrade the capacity of existing nuclear generating stations.

Our Clean Energy Future brochure highlights Xcel Energy’s carbon dioxide reduction efforts.

Position on Climate Policy

At Xcel Energy, we believe climate policy should be designed to maximize environmental benefit and minimize consumer costs. We favor a federal policy as a more effective way to achieve large-scale greenhouse gas reductions, rather than individual state or regional policies. And a flexible, well-designed federal policy is the best option to reduce emissions, manage costs and achieve technological transformation. To truly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we need to deploy new, advanced clean-energy technologies. Although other policy designs may be effective, Congress is focused on creating a national cap and trade program for greenhouse gases. A properly designed cap and trade program should provide for the kind of flexibility and innovation that encourages technological development.

We have engaged with policymakers, energy providers, the environmental community and others to discuss our climate policy principles. Mandatory climate policy could transform our business, but this technology transformation will not be free. We anticipate rising costs as we continue to provide reliable service while steadily reducing CO2 emissions.

Carbon Dioxide Reporting

We publicly disclose our carbon dioxide emissions annually through multiple reporting channels. Measuring and reporting is the first, most important step toward understanding and reducing emissions. Carbon dioxide emissions, associated with the energy we own and purchase to meet our customers’ energy needs, are reported in our Corporate Responsibility Report.

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Values used in these charts are based on the most current data available; however, these estimates may change as updated emissions information regarding owned generation and purchased power becomes available.

The Climate Registry

Xcel Energy is a founding reporter of The Climate Registry, a nonprofit collaboration established to set consistent and transparent standards to calculate, verify and publicly report greenhouse gas emissions into a single registry for North America. In July 2009, The Climate Registry released its new reporting protocol for the electric power sector. We will now report greenhouse gas emissions under the new protocol beginning this year. The Registry also requires third-party verification of our reporting.

Carbon Disclosure Project

Each spring we provide comprehensive carbon and other environmental information to the Carbon Disclosure Project, an independent nonprofit organization that collects and discloses climate change information from more than 3,700 corporations around the world.