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Xcel plans heavy investment in wind power
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Xcel Energy Inc., the owner of utilities in Minneapolis and Denver, may invest billions of dollars to boost wind-power capacity to take advantage of rising demand for cleaner energy.
Xcel, based in Minneapolis, wants to increase the wind-power farms it operates, rather than buying output from other power producers, Chief Executive Dick Kelly said Tuesday in an interview at the Edison Electric Institute financial conference in Orlando, Fla. It is aiming to add more than 1,000 megawatts through 2020.
Xcel distributes electricity from wind farms that have about 2,800 megawatts of capacity, of which it owns a fraction, or 25 megawatts. Xcel is investing about $210 million to build a farm in Minnesota capable of generating about 100 megawatts.
Wind-power investment "will probably be in the billions of dollars," Kelly said. "That's how we grow the company."
Xcel estimates that it will get 24 percent of its electricity from wind power and other renewable energy by 2020. It got about 9 percent last year. Unlike power plants fueled by coal, natural gas and oil, wind power generates no pollution. The company needs to obtain an additional 3,200 megawatts of wind power by 2020 and aims to own as much as 50 percent of it, Kelly said.
Xcel shares rose 35 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $22. The stock has dropped 4.6 percent this year.
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