The committee is being formed "for the purpose of opposing the takeover of the electric system in Boulder and that it will also support the work of the Boulder Smart Energy Coalition Issue Committee chaired by David Miller," Xcel said in a statement.

The typical Xcel Energy customer paid an extra 20 cents a month to the utility company for wind power the company paid for but couldn't transmit from wind farms from February 2004 to May 2005, the state Commerce Department said.

Xcel won't need more wind energy until 2019 at the earliest, because it has built up a sufficient storehouse of wind energy, Xcel spokeswoman Mary Sandok said. Xcel will revive its idea for a consumer renewable credit with Congress this year when lobbying begins anew on extending the production tax credit beyond 2013.

Xcel Energy Inc., the biggest distributor of wind power in the U.S., said it plans to build a $210 million wind facility in Minnesota to meet rising demand for clean electricity.

The city government could initially pay more for the proposed new wind power, since wind energy currently costs more than fossil fuels, Xcel said in a press statement. In later years of the plan, the city could receive money back as the cost of fossil fuels increase and wind energy becomes more valuable.

Wind energy leader Xcel Energy says it wants to try to take advantage of a newly extended federal tax credit to see if it can pick up additional wind energy for cheap, even if it doesn't need it immediately.

Xcel Energy will use $2.6 million in shareholder money for a proposed settlement following a state investigation into the utility's voluntary wind- energy program. Under the pending agreement, Xcel will refund $1.6 million this year to Windsource customers and spend another $1 million to purchase renewable-energy credits that will ensure customers receive the alternative power for which they pay a premium price.

Nearly two months of negotiations failed to settle a lawsuit against Xcel Energy over a stalled $400 million North Dakota wind farm, Xcel Energy said Tuesday, March 20. Now Xcel is preparing for a trial, but the wind farm developer, enXco Development Corp., says it's still open to talks.

New Era was given until Sunday May 12 to resolve a delay in the production of a 78-megawatt wind farm in Goodhue County that is causing the company to default on an agreement to sell generated power, said Jim Alders of Xcel Energy.

"The package is what makes it work,'' said Brian Zelenak, manager of regulatory administration for Xcel Energy, contending the approach has economic and environmental advantages. Xcel would buy 375 megawatts of power from Manitoba Hydro beginning in 2015 and buy or generate 380 megawatts of wind power by 2015. Wind power, which is not always available, would complement the Manitoba Hydro power, which would be 95 percent hydroelectric and would be available during peak hours.

Xcel Energy overcollected more than $1.5 million from customers who voluntarily pay a premium for wind- generated electricity, according to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission staff. From 2005 to 2007, the state's largest utility sold credits for more green power than it generated at the wind farms in its Windsource program. Xcel knew it would have a production shortfall in the program but "failed to act".

Xcel Energy oversold wind energy credits as far back as 2000 for a program in which customers voluntarily pay a premium for wind-generated power, according to an investigation by Colorado Public Utilities Commission staff. A settlement is looming related to Xcel's excess collections for the Windsource program from 2005 to 2007, which was disclosed earlier this week.

Xcel is far enough ahead in building or buying wind energy that it can stand pat with what it has and reassess in a couple years, McCarten said. The utility gets 17 percent of its electricity from renewable resources like wind and still can get to a state mandate of 30 percent by 2020 with its present resources.

MINNEAPOLIS - Electricity and natural gas company Xcel Energy Inc. on Monday asked state regulators for approval to build and own a 100-megawatt wind farm in southern Minnesota. Xcel Energy has contracted with enXco Development Corp., an EDF-EN Co., to build the wind farm in Austin, Minn., which will have 67, 1.5 megawatt wind turbines on 40 square miles. The farm is expected to be operational by the end of 2008. The company said enXco filed a separate permit application.

Going green may mean that Northern States Power Co. customers will be seeing their electric bills jump by 14.2 percent starting in January 2008. In addition to an increase in electrical rates the company also wants to increase natural gas rates by 4 to 5 percent.

Xcel Energy has asked regulators to increase the amount it can charge consumers to help recover the cost of renewable-energy generation. ...If approved, the increase would take effect Jan. 1 and increase typical residential bills by 33 cents a month.

Jim Alders, Xcel's director of regulatory affairs, said Thursday that New Era has "failed to meet the requirements" of the 2010 contract, which required PUC approval. Attempts since December to cure the defaults have failed, prompting the recent action.

A chicken in every pot and a wind turbine in every yard? Xcel Energy is looking to buy more energy from locally owned wind projects to pump 200 more megawatts of electricity onto its grid by the end of 2008 and save ratepayers about $10 million a year. The state's largest power producer put out a call Friday for wind-energy proposals for its Community-Based Energy Development, or C-BED, program, which the state Legislature created in 2005 to promote locally owned alternative energy. The deadline for submissions is April 20.

Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy and six other utilities on Thursday announced a study that maps out up to 16,000 miles of new high-voltage transmission lines across 11 states ...the joint-venture's study represents the first step in a wind-generation appraisal of the Midwest that could be adjusted over time if transmission needs change.

The problem with electricity generated from wind turbines is, the power can fluctuate. Xcel Energy says it's got a way to even out the flow - an 80-ton battery the size of two semi-trailers. The Minneapolis-based utility said Thursday that it will begin testing a sodium-sulfur battery being used in Japan to even out the flow of electricity between windy days and nonwindy days. Xcel plans to put 20 50-kilowatt batteries in Luverne, Minn., about 30 miles east of Sioux Falls, S.D., this spring and connect them to an 11-megawatt wind farm owned by Minwind Energy. The batteries are expected to go online in October.