Xcel Energy's Web Site Privacy Policy

At Xcel Energy, we stress the importance of privacy and are committed to maintaining high standards for the protection of personal information, which includes information on your interactions with us in the course of transacting business with Xcel Energy via Web site, e-mail or related means.

This policy addresses:

• Your visit to xcelenergy.com Web site
• The personal information that Xcel Energy Inc., its wholly owned subsidiaries and affiliates (“Xcel Energy”) collect from your use of this Web site,
• The sharing of such information by Xcel Energy with third parties, and
• The security of such information.

Collecting Information

Xcel Energy generally collects personal information that might help us provide you with energy and related services as well as billing information, including your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, Social Security Number, payment method, usage data, type of business, and personal preference information.

Your Web Site Visits

In general, you do not have to provide your personal information when you visit this Web site.

To evaluate this Web site and improve our service to you, our web servers automatically collect such information as Internet provider address, browser type and access time. This information is used to measure the number of visits, average time spent on this Web site, number of pages viewed, and methods by which this Web site was found. We collect e-mail addresses to improve our service to our customers.

In some cases, we may contact you to let you know about new products or services.  If you do not wish to be contacted by us for this purpose, or you believe you are receiving our communications in error or no longer want to receive them, you may provide this request by clicking on the “unsubscribe” link in any e-mail from Xcel Energy marketing a product or service.  We will discontinue this type of contact with you within 10 days after we receive your email.

A Special Note for Parents

For the safety and privacy of the children who visit our Web site, no personally identifiable information such as last name, age, school, or location will be published in Xcel Energy’s Web site. Xcel Energy adheres to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 and the guidelines of the Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc.

Sharing Information with Third Parties

Xcel Energy will not sell, rent or give away your personal information to other companies for use in selling their products or services unless you consent. When we contract with another company to market or advertise products for Xcel Energy, we require that those companies also protect your personal information.

Other circumstances in which we share your personal information with third parties include the following:

• As required by any laws, or regulations or with customer authorization appropriate to the situation.
• With your documented consent.
• Pursuant to a valid warrant, subpoena or court order.
• To existing or prospective customers, tenants, property owners or real estate agents requesting average residential energy consumption.
• If you have authorized a third party agreement in which you designated that a third party will receive your usage information, bill or copies of any notice of discontinuance sent regarding your account (for example, sharing information concerning an elderly parent’s billing arrangement with an adult caregiver),
• For the business purposes of Xcel Energy (for example, sharing information with third parties for providing electronic billing, online energy audits, or processing online or credit card payments).

Security of Information

Conducting Our Business

Our policies and procedures limit access to personal information to those with a business reason to know such information.

Your Web site Transactions

We will use a secured protocol to safeguard your credit card or financial information, and other personal information during online transactions. Our server will run detection software to help ensure you are using a secure browser and your personal or financial information is secure when you make a transaction If our browser determines you are not using a secure browser, a message will appear at checkout. You may then make the decision as to whether to continue or not.

Changes to Policy

Xcel Energy reserves the right to change this policy at any time.  Please review the contents of this Web site policy frequently, as we may amend it from time to time to reflect changes in our services and our policies relating to customer personal information.  Amendments will become effective when posted on the Web site.  Xcel Energy will not provide you with a notice of any change in this Web site policy.  It is your responsibility to monitor and review any updates to the Web site policy. 

You may direct questions regarding this policy to: Inquire@xcelenergy.com     

Effective Date of Policy

This policy was revised on 9/4/2008.