Utilities

Xcel Energy

Last edited by lenazun on December 15, 2009 - 4:21pm
Company Snapshot: 

Xcel Energy, Inc. is a public utility company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is one of the ten largest electricity and natural gas companies in the United States, providing energy to eight states.

Xcel Energy has been under attack largely because of its plants' contributions to air pollution and climate change. Xcel Energy is the fourth largest single contributer to global warming, spewing 75 million of CO2 a year while banking $7.9 billion in a year. Locally the company was the main opponent to a renewable energy bill here in Colorado that despite their efforts opposing it, narrowly passed in a ballot referendum. Nationally the company, along with four other polluters, was taken to court by eight states and New York City for its contributions to global warming. Corpwatch 7/21/04

Number of employees worldwide: 
10,917 Employees
Chief executive officer: 
Richard C. Kelly
Website: 
Xcel Energy
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Corporate accountability
Accountability overview: 

Xcel Energy Inc. spent about $2.7 million in 2007 to lobby on energy spending and investment legislation. Houston Chronicle 3/19/08

Tax issues: 

Xcel Energy was found using a loophole because of its ownership of subsidiaries to collect taxes from their customers but then keeping that revenue for themselves. Customers paid Xcel Energy, at least $723 million to cover taxes from 2002 to 2004. But the money did not go to the government; in fact, the company received cash refunds of $351.4 million. Corpwatch 3/15/06

Labor: 

OSHA is fining Xcel for 20 safety violations that occurred when a fire killed five people at a hydro-electric plant tunnel in October of 2007. Edwin Foulke, Jr., assistant U.S. secretary of labor, said "This catastrophe could have been avoided if the companies had followed their critical safety procedures." The company is being charged with failure to coordinate the safety of workers from different companies and failure to ensure appropriate rescue operations. Denver Post 3/25/08.

Environment and product safety: 

Xcel Energy operates seven coal burning power plants in the state that collectively release more carbon dioxide than any other source in Colorado. Source

Xcel Energy is in the process of constructing a large coal burning power plant near Pueblo. The city of Pueblo already bears almost half of the state’s mercury emissions. The plant would add over 100 pounds of mercury to the environment every year until at least 2060. The plant would also ad about 6 million tons of carbon dioxide into the air, along with thousands of tons of other pollutants. Clean Air Energy Action.

The company was subpoenaed by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo because of their plans to build coal burning power plants without disclosing financial risks to investors. New York Times 9/16/07.

A study carried out by a coalition of investor, environmental and public interest groups, and written by the Investor Responsibility Research Center (IRRC), an independent firm that advises institutional investors managing more than $5 trillion in assets entitled 'Corporate Governance and Climate Change' found that Xcel Energy and other carbon-dioxide emitting companies were not adequately disclosing the financial risks posed by climate change and also are failing to deal with global warming issues in other key corporate governance areas. Corpwatch 7/9/03.

On January 31, 2007 Colorado Public Utilities Commission sued over Xcel’s Comanche 3 plant by Dan Friedlander (from Clean Energy Action). He alleges that the PUC allowed Xcel to violate the “long-standing practices of not charging ratepayers for power plants until they are operational.”

Sources
Watchdogs and related campaigns: 
Center for Political Accountability: Xcel Energy reports