Xcel Energy Prepares to Begin Operation of 750-Megawatt Coal- and Gas-Fired Unit

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Xcel Energy Incorporated (NYSE:XEL) (Minneapolis, Minnesota) recently reported earnings for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2009. Xcel ended the year with net income of $680.9 million, up 5.5% from fiscal year 2008. Higher electricity rates in Minnesota, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico and Wisconsin helped boost revenue for the quarter, although this was somewhat offset by reduced demand. The company estimates that negative weather impact reduced profits by $22 million.

"In a year largely defined by sluggish electric retail sales and unfavorable weather, I'm proud that we were again able to deliver on our financial objectives," said Xcel President and Chief Operating Officer Ben Fowke in a conference call. "On the regulatory front, we received constructive outcomes in our rate cases. These outcomes allow Xcel Energy to continue to make prudent investments across our service territories."

These investments include the addition of the 750-megawatt, coal- and gas-fired Unit 3 at the Comanche Power Station in Pueblo, Colorado. The project had an estimated total investment value of $1.3 billion and began construction in November 2005. Speaking of the project, Fowke said, "We also made significant progress on the construction of Comanche 3. Final testing is being completed and we now expect this plant to go into service in February. Comanche 3 will deliver tremendous value to our customers with a construction cost of approximately $1,500 per [kilowatt]." Engineering, procurement and construction of the project was performed by Shaw Group (NYSE:SHAW) (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) subsidiary Shaw, Stone & Webster, and the Denver branch of Zachry Engineering (San Antonio, Texas) acted as engineer on the project.

Xcel projects scheduled to kick off this year include the installation of a dry flue gas desulfurization scrubber to decrease SO2 emissions at the company's coal-fired Pawnee Power Station in Brush, Colorado. Installation of the unit is scheduled to begin in May, as is $1.5 million maintenance outage at the facility. Information on more than $2.8 billion of Xcel projects is available at Industrial Info's North American Industrial Database.

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