uses see excel . a major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject . it may require cleanup to comply with wikipedia s content policies particularly neutral point of view . please discuss further on the talk page . june 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message xcel energy inc. type public traded as nyse xel s & p 500 component industry electricity and natural gas utility founded 1998 headquarters minneapolis minnesota u.s. key people ben fowke chairman ceo and president revenue us 10 914.922 million 2013 1 us 10 128.223 million 2012 1 operating income us 1 847.555 million 2013 1 us 1 822.683 million 2012 1 net income us 948.234 million 2013 1 us 905.229 million 2012 1 total assets us 33 907.49 million 2013 2 us 31 140.686 million 2012 1 total equity us 9 565.95 million 2013 2 us 8 874.077 million 2012 2 number of employees 11 942 2011 3 website www.xcelenergy.com www.responsiblebynature.com xcel energy inc. is a utility holding company based in minneapolis minnesota serving more than 3.3 million electric customers and 1.8 million natural gas customers in minnesota michigan wisconsin north dakota south dakota colorado texas and new mexico . it consists of four operating subsidiaries northern states power minnesota northern states power wisconsin public service company of colorado and southwestern public service co. ben fowke is the chairman ceo and president . contents 1 history 2 generation portfolio 3 system information and transmission 4 programs 5 controversies 6 see also 7 references 8 external links history edit xcel energy was built on three companies minneapolis based northern states power company nsp denver based public service company of colorado psco and amarillo based southwestern public service sps . southwestern public service co. sps dates its origins to 1904 and the pecos valley in new mexico when maynard gunsell received an electricity franchise for the city of roswell new mexico and its 2 000 residents . the financial strain of creating this new enterprise soon overwhelmed him and he sold the franchise to w.h. gillenwater who named his utility the roswell electric light co. he later sold the company to an investment firm in cleveland ohio which already owned the roswell gas co. 4 northern states power company s timeline begins with the organization of the washington county light & power co. in 1909 . when h. m. byllesby began building his utility holding company across the northwestern region of the us he renamed it the consumers power co. in 1910 and which was renamed the northern states power co. in 1916 . 5 while the bulk of nsp s territory grew across central and southern minnesota starting from the twin cities it acquired territory in north dakota centering on fargo grand forks and minot and extended southwest into south dakota centering on sioux falls . nsp s system also extended east into wisconsin but because of utility ownership laws in that state it was operated as an entity separate from the rest of the company . public service company of colorado psco was formed in 1923 to provide an electric generating station for the denver area . by 1924 it had acquired most of the electric companies in northern and central colorado . originally a subsidiary of cities service company it became an independent autonomous operation in november 1943 . 6 by this time it served 80 percent of colorado s gas and electricity needs . as demand for energy continued to grow so did psco . eventually the company merged with sps to form new century energies nce in 1995 . 7 northern states power and wisconsin energy corporation had planned to merge into a new outfit that was to be called primergy but the merger fell through because of the time it was taking to gain the required approvals from state and federal agencies . after the failed primergy merger nsp both the minnesota and wisconsin companies merged with new century energies to form xcel energy . 8 in 2005 xcel sold cheyenne light fuel and power to black hills corporation . cheyenne light fuel and power had been a subsidiary of psco since the 1920s and had become an operating company of nce after the merger with sps . the cabin creek fire occurred on october 2 2007 at xcel energy s hydropower generation plant in georgetown colorado . 9 on june 1 2011 federal prosecutors opened their charges that xcel energy was criminally liable for the deaths of the five rpi workers . on june 28 the jury found xcel energy not guilty . 10 on december 19 2011 rpi coating pleaded guilty to workplace safety violations and paid 1.55 million in a cash settlement . the company took responsibility for the deaths of five workers and the injuries to three . 11 generation portfolio edit xcel energy currently has 13 coal plants with a capacity of 7 697 mw . seven of those plants are operated in colorado . 12 xcel energy owns and operates three wind farms . in october 2011 xcel energy set a world record for electricity from wind power . 13 xcel energy generates over 500 megawatts of hydroelectric power from 27 plants in wisconsin minnesota and colorado . this accounts for only four percent of their electricity generation . they also purchase large amounts of hydro generated electricity from manitoba hydro . the bay front power plant in wisconsin . biomass electricity comes from organic fuel sources . xcel energy has contracts for about 110 megawatts of electricity from biomass generators . two in northern minnesota are fueled by forest harvest residue such as treetops and limbs . a third facility brought on line in 2007 in western minnesota generates power using turkey litter . 14 xcel energy s bay front plant in ashland wisconsin is a three unit generating station that has become a model for the creative use of fuels coal waste wood railroad ties discarded tires natural gas and petroleum coke . two of the three bay front operating units already use biomass as their primary fuel . xcel energy recently proposed a plan to install biomass gasification technology at bay front . the waste to energy facilities use waste that would otherwise end up in landfills . the wisconsin waste to energy plant burns wood waste in combination with refuse derived fuel rdf . xcel energy owns and operates two nuclear power plants monticello nuclear generating plant near monticello minnesota and prairie island nuclear generating plant near red wing minnesota and stores the spent fuel from these nuclear plants on site in independent spent fuel storage installations . isfsis . 15 system information and transmission edit xcel energy operates the fourth largest transmission system in the united states spanning 10 states or 20 percent of the country . in 2011 xcel energy s transmission system was worth 3.3 billion . 16 the transmission system is operated on a non discriminatory basis under the open access requirements of the federal government . this means that all wholesale buyers and sellers of electricity can use the transmission system under the same terms and conditions used to serve xcel energy s own retail customers . 14 the transmission lines are utilized to carry 115 000 volts 230 000 volts and 345 000 volts . there is also a 500 000 volt transmission line that runs from the dorsey substation outside of winnipeg manitoba in canada to the chisago substation located in chisago county just north of st. paul minnesota . 14 programs edit since 1998 xcel energy s windsource program has allowed customers to designate that part or all of their electricity comes from a renewable energy source . in 2011 about 58 000 people were enrolled in windsource . in 2011 more than 2.3 million electric and 261 800 natural gas customers took part in xcel energy s energy efficiency programs for homes and businesses . 17 xcel energy also offers customers incentives to install solar panels . at the end of 2011 more than 10 600 photovoltaic systems had been installed with a capacity of about 121 megawatts dc . in early 2011 xcel energy suspended the solar rebate program before reaching a settlement a month later with representatives of solar power companies to restore the solar incentive program until it is fully reviewed by the public utilities commission . 18 controversies edit on august 1 2002 xcel energy inc. was sued because of engaging in round trip energy trades that provided no economic benefit for the company and because the company lacked the necessary internal controls to adequately monitor the trading of its power . 19 xcel paid 80 000 000 in a settlement . see also edit plant x lamb county texas references edit a b c d e f g xcel energy inc 2013 annual report form 10 k xbrl . united states securities and exchange commission . february 21 2014 . a b c xcel energy inc 2014 q1 quarterly report form 10 q xbrl . united states securities and exchange commission . may 2 2014 . xcel energy company profile . xcel energy company profile . xcel energy . retrieved 20 february 2013 . southwestern public service company history . funding universe . retrieved 17 october 2012 . northern states power company minnesota . minnesota historical society . retrieved 12 february 2013 . public service company of colorado history press from associated 1995 08 24 . colorado power company to merge with texas utility . los angeles times . issn 0458 3035 . retrieved 2015 02 27 . bergquist lee 17 may 1997 . plug pulled on primergy firms call off merger blame delays . milwaukee journal sentinel . wisconsin energy corp. and northern states power co. called off their 6 billion merger late friday afternoon two days after federal regulators raised major concerns about the deal . access date requires url help frosch dan 4 october 2007 . investigators trace fatal colorado fire to sealant device . the new york times . retrieved 15 october 2012 . xcel energy acquitted of criminal charges for five deaths of workers at cabin creek hydroelectric plant fire . the huffington post . 29 august 2011 . retrieved 15 october 2012 . ingold john 20 december 2011 . rpi to pay 1.55 million in 2007 colorado power plant fire that killed 5 . the denver post . retrieved 15 october 2012 . xcel s coal plants . clean energy action . retrieved 17 october 2012 . jaffe mark 15 november 2011 . xcel sets world record for wind power generation read more xcel sets world record for wind power generation the denver post http www.denverpost.com breakingnews ci 19342896 ixzz29gquzmxm read the denver post s terms of use of its content http www.denverpost.com termsofuse . the denver post . retrieved 18 october 2012 . early on the morning of oct. 6 xcel energy set a world record for electricity from wind power . external link in title help a b c http www.xcelenergy.com staticfiles xe corporate 2008crreportfullversion permanent dead link 1 . pdf nuclear power . xcel energy . archived from the original on december 31 2009 . retrieved 2009 11 25 . transmission web . xcel energy corporate responsibility report 2011 . 2011 . retrieved 19 october 2012 . 2011 energy efficiency program results . xcel energy 2011 corporate responsibility report . xcel energy . 2011 . retrieved 1 november 2012 . colorado puc oks xcel solar incentives settlement . denver business journal . 18 march 2011 . retrieved 1 november 2012 . in re xcel energy inc. securities derivative . archived from the original on february 1 2014 . external links edit xcelenergy.com responsiblebynature.com connect.xcelenergy.com v t e minnesota based corporations fortune 500 corporations by size unitedhealth group target best buy supervalu chs 3m u.s. bancorp medtronic general mills xcel energy ameriprise financial c. h. robinson worldwide mosaic