January 2012- Volume 12- Issue 1 - Xcel Energy

XTRA
VOLUME 12 • ISSUE 4 • JANUARY 2012
As plant marks
30 years of operation,
new systems in works
Forecasting:
Wind-system accuracy
keeps rising with new
technology
XpressNet:
New intranet system
launches after huge
effort
Kenya:
Mauya’s volunteer
efforts boost education
opportunities

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Cover
story
page 8
FEATURES
Electric Vehicles 4
Xcel Energy and a number of its customers
are among the first in the country to
receive all-electric Ford Transit Connect
Electric commercial vans.
Train Spur 11
A new era of coal delivery recently began
at Hayden Generating Station when a
Union Pacific train made a maiden voyage
on new track to the plant.
Kenyan Assistance 16
Raymond Mauya is not only an expert on
electrical systems and energy, but also has
an abundance of energy himself, which
shows in his “work outside of work” to
help others.
Wind 6
A new wind-forecasting system is allowing
the company to harness wind power
far more effectively and save customers
millions of dollars.
Anniversary 8
As it marks 30 years of service, Pawnee
Generating Station remains a stable and
consistent producer of electricity for the
company.
XpressNet 13
As a major intranet project has overcome
several technological issues since
launch, the benefits of the new company
system are coming more and more into
focus.
People 18
The most recent Friends We’ll Miss and
Retirement announcements.
On the Cover
The single-unit, 500-megawatt Pawnee
Generating Station, near Brush, Colo., was
the largest generating unit in the state
when it came online in 1981. At the time,
the plant provided nearly as much power
as the entire PSCo generating system did
in 1954. The plant is pictured here in its
30th year of strong performance. For more
information, please see story on page 8.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Customer’s morning
‘barely missed a beat’
Dear Xcel Energy:
I live in southeast Aurora and there was a power
outage that started this morning at about 2 a.m., which
was very quickly resolved shortly after I woke up at 4:30
a.m. When I woke, I realized the power was out, and I
stuck my head out the window.
When I did, I noticed two things. First, I wasn’t the
only one without power. And second, you were already
on top of it. I saw the Xcel Energy truck at the end of our
block and was very, very pleased to know that the issue
was being resolved as quickly as it was.
We definitely take for granted how easy it is to just
turn on a light switch. It is good to know how hard you
work to make sure that when we do, power goes where
we need it to.
Please pass along my regards to whoever was on
point this morning. They made it so that when I got up, my
morning barely missed a beat.
–Matthew Flatland, Aurora, Colo.
Efforts truly appreciated
Dear Xcel Energy:
We want to thank the employees who worked so
very hard in the cold and snow on a recent Saturday to
bring the power back on for us. The effort is truly appreciated.
Thank you for the light and the heat.
–Bill and Beth Latare, Cold Spring, Minn.
PHOTO OP
Mountain Gas
A major natural gas pipeline project recently wrapped up in Colorado’s Vail
Valley with the installation of a16-inch gas main. The line ensures reliable
operations for the towns, major ski resorts and related activities in the area.
Pictured above, a crew cuts into asphalt for eventual pipeline installation
near the line’s eastern terminus near the town of Minturn.
Editor’s Note: “Photo Op” is a standing feature
in Xtra. Each issue, a photo submitted by
a reader or produced by a member of Corporate
Communications will be published. Please submit
high-resolution digital photos to the editor
at the e-mail address listed on the back page
of this publication. By submitting images for
“Photo Op,” employees give Xtra permission to
run the photos.

EVs
Denver event showcases new
vehicles supported by company
Xcel Energy and a number of its customers
are among the first in the country to receive
all-electric Ford Transit Connect Electric commercial
vans.
Last month, company representatives joined Denver
Mayor Michael Hancock to celebrate the arrival of the allelectric
vans at an event held at the Denver Museum of
Nature and Science. The event showcased the vehicles
and a newly installed public charging station in the museum’s
parking lot, with “fuel” provided by the museum as
a courtesy to electric vehicle drivers.
“Xcel Energy is extremely pleased to be involved with
this project – a great partnership and wonderful opportunity
to work with other leaders to help prepare Colorado
for a future that includes electric vehicles,” said Jerome
Davis, regional vice president. “Working together, we are
gaining first-hand knowledge of how we can serve growth
from electric vehicles on our system.
“With that understanding, we are identifying new
technologies, processes and policies needed to support
our customers’ choices as the electric-vehicle market
grows,” he added. “And that’s why we’re engaging early,
so we can help get the ‘rules of the road’ right and get key
stakeholders aligned for long-term success.”
Mayor Hancock announced that the City of Denver
has taken delivery of two Ford Transit Connect vans. One
will be used in the Department of Environmental Health
to connect residents with energy outreach, education and
assistance programs. Another will be used by the Technology
Services department to deliver communications and
networking projects.
“We are thrilled to be able to work with Xcel Energy
to ‘green our fleet,’ even in these tight budgetary
times,” Hancock said. “The steps we take now will
make our region strong, sustainable and fuel-secure for
future generations.”
4 XTRA JANUARY 2012

EV Event
Through the company’s Chairman’s Fund,
Xcel Energy shareholders are providing
funding for a number of electric vehicles
in Colorado and Minnesota through the
company’s Chairman’s Fund. The funding
helps program partners test and promote
electric-vehicle technology. Pictured
at left is Jerome Davis, regional vice
president of PSCo, at the Denver kickoff
event, while above, the Denver skyline is
pictured beyond a portion of one of the
vehicle’s colorful wraps.
EV Video
To see a video about the recent Denver
EV event, scan this code
with a smart phone app
or look under “XcelEnergyVideo”
on youtube.com
Other featured speakers at the Xcel Energy-hosted
event represented the American Lung Association,
Azure Dynamics Corp., the National Renewable Energy
Laboratory, the museum, and Alfalfa’s Market, a Coloradobased
grocer.
Xcel Energy is participating in Azure Dynamics Corp.’s
“Lead Customer” program to offer the vans. Several organizations
in Minnesota, including the City of St. Paul, the
City of Minneapolis and others, also are participating in
this groundbreaking program. The effort involves collaborative
effort between Ford Motor Co. and Azure, a hybrid
electric and electric power-train maker for the commercial
truck market.
In Minnesota, the company recently helped the city
of Saint Paul and Drive Electric Minnesota unveil the
first Ford Transit Connect plug-in, all-electric vans to be
received in the state. Xcel Energy is a member of Drive
Electric Minnesota, a partnership of local and state government,
private business and nonprofit entities, working
together to support electric vehicles and plug-in charging
infrastructure deployment.
Xcel Energy shareholders are providing $20,000
through the company’s Chairman’s Fund for each vehicle
purchased to help partners test and promote electricvehicle
technology, said Kathryn Valdez, manager in Environmental
Policy. The fund helps support innovative
community projects that advance, demonstrate or promote
clean-energy technologies.
“We have invited a number of municipalities, government
agencies and forward-thinking businesses to partner
with us and incorporate the vans into their daily fleet operations,”
she said. “Over this past year, we worked with
numerous government and commercial partners to help
them acquire vans, and they are testing the electric-drive
technology in their fleets and helping promote it.”
The company is doing the same with the vans in its
own fleet. In Minnesota, Property Services uses one of
the vans, and in Colorado, a second van helps read meters
along a route in Denver.
“Electric vehicles have the potential to transform
the grid into a more modern system capable of meeting
21st century economic, security and environmental challenges,”
Davis said. “And with an average cost of three
cents a mile to fuel, customers will likely reap cost savings
as well.
“To ensure we can continue to meet customer needs
over time, we need smart investments and initiatives like
this to help us prepare for the future.”
JANUARY 2012 5

Pinpointing
Wind-forecast effort saving
millions for customers
Wind is notoriously difficult to predict, much
less manage. But a new wind-forecasting system is
proving its mettle after a determined multi-year effort
between Xcel Energy and the National Center for Atmospheric
Research (NCAR).
The highly detailed system is allowing the company to harness
wind power far more effectively and save customers millions of dollars,
said Keith Parks, senior trading analyst in Commercial Operations.
One major obstacle for wind power is determining when and
how strongly the winds will blow at the locations of turbines, he said,
and then adjusting fossil-fuel generation accordingly to take full advantage
of the wind.
“There was a lot of back and forth with NCAR over the last couple
of years,” Parks said. “It was exciting and innovative, and the
team had to be flexible to deliver results on time.
“We wanted to ride the bike as we built it, so to speak, and put
the model into production as soon as possible,” he added. “We had
to keep changing and moving while using it, but we could see it was
working and kept driving forward to make it better.”
“Better” to date has meant a whopping $13.5 million saved for
customers in the last two years by crunching weather data from the
hills of western Minnesota to the plains of eastern Colorado to the
flat expanses of the Texas Panhandle.
Xcel Energy has contracted with Global Weather Corp., an affiliate
company of NCAR, to host and maintain the system.
By issuing forecasts that are 35 percent more accurate than previous
methods, the system enables operators to constantly anticipate
the amount of energy produced by wind farms. Every fraction that
forecasts can be improved means more savings to customers.
“Wind is challenging because of the impacts it can have on our
operations due to its intermittency,” said Eric Pierce, managing director
of energy trading in Commercial Operations. “Using this system is
proving to be a key tool in continuing to build a diverse portfolio at
Xcel Energy.”
In part, the effort evaluated numerous mathematical formulas to
calculate the amount of energy that turbines generate when winds
blow at various speeds. The system relies on a suite of tools – including
highly detailed observations of atmospheric conditions and
an ensemble of cutting-edge computer models – and issues frequent
forecasts for wind-farm sites that are updated every 15 minutes.
Forecasting wind at turbine sites is challenging because landscape
features such as hills and trees can reshape wind speeds and
directions, and cause turbulence in ways that can greatly influence

Advancing Science
To generate wind forecasts, the company’s new
system incorporates observations of current
atmospheric conditions from a variety of sources,
including satellites, aircraft, weather radars, groundbased
weather stations, and sensors on the wind
turbines themselves. Above, Keith Parks, senior
trading analyst, played a major role in perfecting
the system as the company worked closely with the
National Center for Atmospheric Research.
the amount of energy produced, Parks said. In addition, most
forecasting models are designed to generate information about
winds near ground level rather than at 200 to 300 feet, which is
where Xcel Energy’s turbine hubs are typically located.
“Wind is particularly elusive to predict because small
changes in atmospheric temperature or pressure can completely
alter wind speed and direction,” he said. “The focus
now is reducing the number of errors in forecasting. Fewer errors
equal more savings because more efficiency means less
fuel burned.”
For example, with a low-wind forecast, the company may
keep a number of natural gas units on line overnight. But if
the wind is there instead, fuel is burned that could have
been saved.
“With a better forecast, we could turn a number of units off,”
Parks said. “But not knowing, we have to take a conservative approach.
This technology is letting us better know how much wind
power will be produced. With those projections, we can run our
system more reliably and save on fuel costs over time.”
To generate the forecasts, the forecasting system incorporates
observations of current atmospheric conditions from
a variety of sources, including satellites, aircraft, weather radars,
ground-based weather stations, and sensors on the wind
turbines themselves. The information is then fed into powerful
computer models to forecast the weather.
In addition, the system will continue to become more accurate,
he added, with the software automatically making adjustments
based on any differences between the energy forecasts
and actual energy generation.
“We’re looking at how we can keep advancing the science,”
Pierce said. “We’ve bitten off a big piece of it, but more
improvement is possible.”
GWC and the company are now working to market the
system and technology to other utilities, wind developers and
energy-trading entities. Xcel Energy will receive royalties from
those efforts, and the funds will be used to pay for hosting
services and for further R&D on the forecasting system.
“It’s made a tremendous impact on savings to customers
and improving our grid reliability,” Pierce said. “We will continue
to enhance and refine this model.”
JANUARY 2012 7

Pawne
After 30 years, plant remains a stable and
When John Bass began working at Pawnee
Generating Station in July 1978, the power plant existed only
on paper.
Bass came on board a month after groundbreaking, and began his
tenure with the company as an earthwork and concrete tester at the
construction site near Brush, Colo. As the plant rose from the state’s
eastern plains, he moved on to inspection work for piping and mechanical
systems.
“It was an exciting time – a lot of activity with more than 2,000 workers,”
he said. “And the number of fine and intricate details that had to be
dealt with was amazing.”
Bass, who was born and raised in Brush, also witnessed the impressive
boon the project and plant brought to his town and the nearby city of
Fort Morgan. The huge workforce and project plowed ahead over the next
three years, when another next big challenge arrived for Bass.
A year before official startup of Pawnee, Bass moved to the Results
Department. “There were no specific experts back then, so we were handed
the information and went for it,” he said.
Starting in early 1981, he and others began a long stretch of overtime,
working seven days a week and 12 hours a day. This workload went on
8 XTRA JANUARY 2012

eProfile
consistent workhorse
from Mid-March until startup in mid-December, with one day
off around Thanksgiving.
But the work paid off, and the plant came on line 30
years ago last month. As it marks 30 years of service, Pawnee
remains a stable and consistent producer of electricity
for the company.
The 500-megawatt plant was the largest generating unit
in the state when it came online in 1981. At the time, the
plant provided nearly as much power as the entire PSCo generating
system did in 1954.
“It’s been a blast – very interesting and rewarding,”
Bass said of his many years of working at Pawnee. “There
are tons of details to running the plant, and it’s great when
people look to you for advice and information.”
Bass has seen many changes over the years, and more
lie ahead.
The plant has gone from analog to digital controls, and
upgraded many other plant systems, including the installation
of low NOx burners in 1994. Also that year, Pawnee was
fitted with the largest baghouse the company had installed
at any of its plants at the time. The emissions-control unit
and its 13,000-plus bags still rise more than 10 stories high
between the boiler and stack at the plant.
Next up for Pawnee is a huge project to install selectivecatalytic
reduction (SCR) for controlling nitrogen oxides, as
well as a lime-spray scrubber to control sulfur dioxide. Work
already is under way and ground will be broken later this year
on both efforts, with completion expected 2014, said Fred
Prutch, plant director at Pawnee.
For the SCR unit, a series of honeycomb plates or baffles
will be installed in a large structure similar to what is now
in place at Comanche’s Unit Three, in Pueblo, Colo. Ammonia
is injected into the flue gas, and a catalyst on the plates
then converts the nitrogen oxides to nitrogen and water. The
plates last about three years and are either then recoated
with the catalyst or replaced.
The lime-spray unit lies down the path to collect sulfur
dioxide, which attaches to the lime catalyst and is collected
in the baghouse. A number of Xcel Energy generating units
already employ this technology, he said.
JANUARY 2012 9

In addition, Pawnee is adding mercury removal to its operations,
said Prutch, who has headed up operations at Pawnee
for four years. A carbon-injection system is used with the
flue gas, and the plant has been fine-tuning the system and
testing different types of carbon media to determine which
work best with the ash.
All told with these various projects, Pawnee soon will be
set for another long and prosperous run into the future.
“Overall, it’s a great plant,” Prutch said. “Even with the
challenges that all plants face, it’s a major and well-running
contributor in terms of low cost and availability.”
“Pawnee has been a stable force for creating plenty of
electricity over the decades,” Bass added. “We make money
selling electricity, of course, and this plant puts out a big
chunk of it every day.”
Pawnee
Anniversary
Above, the inside of Pawnee’s
massive boiler during a planned
outage for maintenance work, and
at right, part of the plant’s conveyor
system. On the page eight and
nine spread, the plant is pictured
above corn fields ready for
harvest this past fall.
10 XTRA JANUARY 2012

All Aboard
First train pulls into Hayden Station via new rail system
A
new era of coal delivery recently began
at Hayden Generating Station when a Union Pacific
train made a maiden voyage on new track to the plant
located near Steamboat Springs, Colo.
Coal had been trucked to the 450-megawatt plant from
local mines since it was built in the 1960s. But after the closure
of the nearby Seneca Mine in 2005, Hayden needed to
reach further for fuel.
To improve efficiency, Xcel Energy proposed a project to
bring rail service to the plant, said John Pierce, principal engineer
in Engineering and Construction.
Routt County commissioners approved a permit at the
end of 2007, and work began on the Hayden Rail Spur project
to construct three miles of new railroad track to the plant.
The project also involved the removal of the existing coalhandling
system and construction of a new coal-dump
hopper and high-capacity conveyor.
Construction began in 2009 and wrapped up this past fall,
he said. The rail-line work included the construction of four
bridges that allow for wildlife migration and separate the rail
traffic from roads and highways.
The work involved relocating a short length of Routt County
Road 27, constructing bridge foundations and abutments,
and doing earthwork along the rail spur. The relocation work
was needed to meet requirements for the construction of the
separated grade crossing. And as part of the project, the company
paid for the county road realignment construction.
JANUARY 2012 11

Hayden Spur
Construction on the Hayden rail spur began in 2009 and
wrapped up this past fall. On page 11, the inaugural train
pulls through the new coal-dump hopper. Above, the first
train travels over one of the new bridges built to bring
rail service to the plant, and at left, Hayden Station on a
recent clear and wintry day.
At the plant, the new bottom-dump system is capable of
unloading a train during a single work shift, Pierce said. And
coal-handling processes were improved with the new facility
design, which also included installation of new vibratory feeders
and coal crushers.
Hayden Station burns approximately 1.8 million tons of
coal each year. The Hayden rail project consisted of building a
new rail line from the Union Pacific mainline running east and
west in northeast Colorado, over U.S. Highway 40, a relocated
section of Routt County Road 27 and into Hayden Station.
The company worked for several years to develop a railspur
route in the Hayden area, he said, but finding a location
that was both acceptable to the community and functional for
the plant became challenging.
“We invested significant time and effort exploring numerous
different route options,” Pierce said. “We searched
for the single option with the least impact to local landowners,
agricultural operations and the environment, but there
was no perfect solution.”
The company initially conducted numerous public and
one-on-one meetings with local residents to learn more about
their interests, values and recommendations for the project,
he said.
The company then reviewed more than 15 different options
for the project, he said, before determining that the
rail spur within the plant’s existing easement made the most
sense. That proposal proved difficult because the company’s
existing easement ran across a corner of the Nature Conservancy’s
Carpenter Ranch property.
The company’s easement had existed since 1963, established
when the plant was first built. It was exempt from a
conservation easement established on the Nature Conservancy
property in 1996.
Despite owning an easement, Xcel Energy looked at many
different locations and options, with project team members
hoping to find one that was fully acceptable to all elements
of the community, he said. What the team found was that all
options would have some kind of impact and opposition.
“By using the existing easement, we didn’t have to acquire
any additional land rights,” he said. “We didn’t impact
additional property owners, conservation easements or agricultural
acreage. There were benefits for both the community
and the plant.
“In the end, we proposed a number of mitigation
measures to address concerns of the Conservancy and the
community,” he added. “These improvements will protect wildlife,
continued ranch operations and the scenic character of
the area.”
Near the end of the approval process, the newspaper, the
Steamboat Pilot, ran an editorial supporting Xcel Energy’s preferred
option for the project.
“The rail spur should allow Xcel to use competing coal
suppliers and thus lower costs,” the newspaper wrote. “Such
competitive pricing benefits not only Xcel Energy, but also
electricity consumers in the Yampa Valley.”
12 XTRA JANUARY 2012

The new XpressNet launched
last fall after a huge effort to
revamp the intranet site. And as the
project has overcome several technological
issues since launch, the benefits of the new
company system are coming more and more
into focus.
XpressNET
New system provides
framework to grow
“We have not been without our challenges
on this project,” said Pam Fricke, director
of Employee Communications. “We’re happy
to be moving into a new era of improved usability,
as we refine search, navigation and information
sharing through tools such as polls,
ratings, comments and customization.
“We have made refinements to the
site since going live, and will continue to do
so to address employee questions and concerns
about where to find content,” she
added. “The new system provides us a great
framework from which to grow. We will continue
to improve functionality, usability and
employee satisfaction.”
The new XpressNet was the largest of
the three recent website projects at the company
in terms of the number of participants
involved and the amount of content moved,
said Tina Lopez, senior communication consultant
and project manager.
A core team of 20 members played a
critical role and will be relied on for continued
key support, she said, to provide feedback
from their business area and convey updates
to their business area’s content contributors.
Two years in the making, the new Xpress-
Net effort whittled down online content from
250,000 to 40,000 pages, and eventually all
the way down to 2,500 pages. The project
aimed at improving search capabilities, moving
to task-based navigation and improving
author productivity through a new contentmanagement
tool.
JANUARY 2012 13

A Guided XpressNet Tour
Tina Lopez
“We wanted to provide simpler and more intuitive navigation,
as well as improved employee communications and
customer interactions, through enhanced capabilities and
new media technologies,” Lopez said. “We also knew we
could reduce software application costs and simplify our technology
footprint, and meet new company records-retention
requirements.”
To make the new site possible, a team of more than 200
employees worked over a year to review content on the previous
XpressNet and migrate Day One content to the new site.
“Following the launch, we discovered a number of issues
that needed to be resolved, and we continue to work through
these as fast as we can,” Lopez explained. “Our IT support team
continues to play a key role in supporting us as we work toward
resolution, including the software vendor when needed.”
There also were challenges related to content contributors
to the site.
“Before, content contributors had more freedom to
deploy their content,” she said. “While that had advantages
for them, navigation standards across the old website were
inconsistently applied. Some content was two levels deep;
others as many as eight levels deep.”
The new system challenges content contributors on
several levels, starting with having to learn an entirely new
software system, she added. They also had to relearn how to
approach their content and organize it by task. And finally,
they needed to learn how to adapt the content to the framework
of the new site.
“We have seen improvement in just the four months that
the site has been live,” Lopez said, “as content contributors have
become more familiar with how the site structure can work.”
Here is a guided tour of the new XpressNet homepage
and a little about how you can set it up to reflect personal
preferences on company topics of interests.
On the left side of the new homepage
Message of the Day: In the upper left corner, you’ll
see a new “Message of the Day” each working day, containing
an important and pertinent fact about Xcel Energy
and the utility industry.
My Picks: On the left side, you are able to select
the Xcel Energy subject areas of most interest to you by
clicking on the “little pencil.” For example, you might want
quick links to:
• Check PTO
• IPAD
• Submit expense report
In the center of the new homepage
Xcel Energy News: In the center, at the top of the
page, you’ll find six recent news headlines and links to the
latest company news – of interest companywide. As the
latest news breaks, the oldest news link and headline will
roll off that section.
My News: In the center, just below “Xcel Energy
News,” you’ll find the “My News” section in which you
can, again, click on the little pencil to get the news you
want – from your business area, state and company jurisdiction,
and on the company topics of your choosing. You’ll
be able to select specific news topics and areas of interest
to go automatically to your “My News” section as the
news rolls out through an easy-to-use checklist, divided
into the following sections: Geographic Location, Subject,
Business Area, and Building.
On the right side of the new homepage
Quick Links: In the upper right corner, you’ll see links to
content that employees most commonly search for, including
myHR, Policies, Software Directory, Emergency Information
Hotline and IT Help Central.
Photo of the Day: Each day, you’ll find a new company
photo. When you place your cursor on the photo and click,
you’ll be able to see a large version of the photo (if available).
Question of the Week: Underneath the Photo of the Day,
you’ll find the Question of the Week, which asks you a workrelated
question that you can check off your answer to, submit it
and find out how your answer compares in terms of percentage
of the running vote count from the rest of the company.
Stock Quote: At the bottom, you’ll find the stock quote
for Xcel Energy, updated periodically throughout the day.
On the bottom of the new homepage
Footer: The footer contains links that help employees find
content on XpressNet and submit their feedback. They are:
Contact Us, News Archive, Corporate Q&A, Copyright Trade
Disclaimer and Site Map. The Site Map is a useful tool to locate
content.
14 XTRA JANUARY 2012

NEWS BRIEF
Company’s United Way goal met in 2011
Xcel Energy employees, contractors and retirees
surpassed the goal of raising $2.725 million for this
year’s United Way campaign. The final total for the 2011
campaign came in at $2.760 million. With the company
match, that means the company will be investing more
than $5.520 million in its communities.
“At a time when our support is needed more than
ever, Xcel Energy employees, retirees and contractors
joined together to meet and exceed the challenge,” said
Ben Fowke, chairman, president and CEO. “I thank you
sincerely for your participation. Your generosity and
commitment to ‘Live United’ are greatly appreciated.”
High points in this year’s campaign included:
• The amount contributed by employees rose by 1
percent over last year.
• The number of FairShare donors rose with 66 new donors.
• The number of Leadership donors of $1,000 or more
increased by 1.5 percent.
• The average gift pledged rose from $443 last year to
$452 this year.
In addition, Xcel Energy retirees increased their
average gift from $179 last year to $220 this year. And
there was a 3.6 percent increase in what was raised
through numerous company events, such as Business
Systems’ golf event that alone raised $15,000. Plus, the
management campaign exceeded its 82 percent participation
goal.
More than 450 employees volunteered their time
to plan, manage and support campaign events and
activities at Xcel Energy workplace locations across
our company.
“Kudos to this group of hard-working volunteers
for their dedication to the campaign,” Fowke said. “Our
annual United Way campaign mobilizes the caring
power of our employees, advancing the common good
and changing lives for the better. Our long and proud
tradition of supporting the communities we serve
through United Way continues.”
In 2007, Xcel Energy earned the United Way’s national
“Spirit of America” award for its long-term commitment
to the community. Since its creation in 2000,
Xcel Energy has participated in the annual United Way
campaign, and its operating companies participated for
decades before that.
Sherco unit damaged after
maintenance overhaul
Sherco Generating Station’s Unit Three experienced
a significant failure during turbine testing Nov.
19 while returning to service following a scheduled
maintenance overhaul that began in mid-September.
The failure at the Becker, Minn., plant resulted in
fires in both the turbine and generator, and caused
damage to the unit, including the generator exciter
and turbine, said Ron Brevig, plant director. Local
fire departments were summoned to help extinguish
the fires.
While initial assessments indicate significant
damage, the scope of repairs and a projected returnto-service
date won’t be known until the unit is disassembled
and the extent of damage fully known.
An investigation into the cause of the equipment
failure is under way.
Sherco Units One and Two were not affected and
continue to operate normally. Sherco Unit Three had
been returning to service from a scheduled maintenance
overhaul when the incident occurred.
In addition to routine maintenance on the boiler
and plant systems, the overhaul scope included
replacement of the high-pressure and intermediatepressure
turbine components and associated generator/exciter
components.
More information on the repair work and return to
service will be published in future issues of Xtra.
Company named again to
Dow Jones Sustainability Index
The SAM Group and Dow Jones Indexes recently
announced the results of their annual sustainability
review for 2011-2012, and Xcel Energy is again
included on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index
for North America.
“This is the fifth year we have earned a place on
the index, which includes companies considered to be
best in class for economic, environmental and social
performance,” said Pam Butler, manager of Environmental
Communications.
To compile the index, the SAM Group, an investment
manager specializing in sustainability-driven
investments, conducts an independent assessment of
company practices in 22 categories – from corporate
governance, risk management and electric generation
to labor practices and corporate citizenship.
Each item is reviewed with a strong focus on
long-term shareholder value, Butler said. Overall,
Xcel Energy received high marks this year in the
following assessment categories:
• Scorecard and measurement system
• Climate strategy
• Environmental policy and management system
• Management of water-related risks
• Occupational health and safety
• Stakeholder engagement
JANUARY 2012 15

Kenyan
education
Mauya has energy to make things better
When you talk with Raymond Mauya,
you quickly realize he’s not only an expert on
electrical systems and energy, but he also has an
abundance of energy himself, which shows in his “work outside
of work” to help others.
Mauya, a specialty systems engineer at Chestnut Service
Center in Minneapolis, supports anything having to do with
metering at Xcel Energy – residential, commercial, substations
– and also supports apprentice and technician training
for the Meter Department.
However, this electrical engineer also does much more.
An immigrant from Kenya who worked his way through an
undergraduate degree in electrical engineering – and then a
master’s degree in the same field from the University of Minnesota
(with tuition aid from Xcel Energy) – finds time to help
kids in his home country obtain high school educations.
“I was born and raised in Kenya,” Mauya said. “I moved
to the United States in 1998, and my main goal was to pursue
further studies after completing my high school. I worked odd
jobs while going to school.”
Though he came from a relatively middle-class family of
six children – his father was a mechanical engineer and his
mother a nurse – he knew from an early age that education
was the answer to a better life for himself, his family and his
wider African community.
“Where I come from, people earn less than a dollar a
day,” Mauya said. “I live more comfortably in Minnesota than
most do back home.
“There’s a pretty big Kenyan population in Minnesota, and
back in 2006, we asked ourselves what we could do to help,”
he added. “We decided to do something to positively contribute
to our communities and try to put kids through high school.
“In Kenya, high school is something you have to pay your
way through, which most families cannot afford. Children are
educated free through eighth grade in public school, but then
tuition has to be shared between parents and the government.”
On average, educating a young person at the high school
level in Kenya costs between $150 and $300 a year, Mauya
said, with most people living on less than a dollar a day.
So the group decided to sponsor educational opportunities
for needy students beyond the eighth grade. Mauya and his
fellow board members in Minnesota now work with various
women’s organizations in Kenya to identify the students their
organization ultimately helps.
“The women’s groups in Kenya know what’s going on in
the various communities,” he explained. “They’re involved in a
lot of local self-help activities and they can tell you which kids
are really in need.
“Right now we have 11 students we’re sponsoring,”
Mauya added. “We’ve already seen four through high school
and a couple of have gone on to college. In fact, a couple of
them are out working right now.”
Once identified, the students fill out an application and
write an essay to explain what they plan to do after they obtain
a high school education, he said. Also, each student must
present a written recommendation from a primary or high
school head-teacher.
“We get tons of applications,” Mauya said. “And the criteria
we use to select students for our four-year program are
based on grades and who needs the most help.”
16 XTRA JANUARY 2012

The help Mauya and his fellow board members provide
covers tuition and living expenses each year for up to four
years. From time to time, a board member goes home to Kenya
to check on the program, as Mauya himself did in December.
He returned home not only to enjoy some home cooking
and visit his mother, brothers and sisters, but also to oversee
the scholarship program he and the others set up as a nonprofit
agency.
One recent success story Mauya cites is of a 16-year-old
girl in Kenya. Her parents were not able to put her through
school, he said, and had her drop out of school and marry at
an early age.
“Her ambition was to be a doctor,” he said. “But because
of poverty and her family situation, she didn’t have the chance.”
Some tribes in Kenya would rather have girls stay at
home, he explained, and with others, it does not matter. “It all
depends on the region and family background, but often there
is pressure on girls to marry and start a family,” he said. “In
this case, we sent her back to school and now she is working
on getting into college.
Mauya’s nonprofit organization has steadily grown over
the years and plans to grow even further.
“Most of the board members here in Minnesota have
full-time jobs, and the effort takes a lot of work,” he said. “But
we’re trying to grow our donor base. Our goal for the future is
to build our own school in Kenya, hire our own teachers and
have a really strong curriculum.”
In the short run, the group continues to work to find more
donors to put more kids through school.
“I do get homesick for my own country, especially in the
winter time,” he said. “But I feel blessed to live in this country”
– which explains, in part, his drive to give back and improve
the lives of others.
Kenya
At right, Raymond Mauya is pictured in his native
Kenya, while above, a street scene from the town of
Keroka, where Mauya’s mother is from on the western
side of the country. On page 16, one of Africa’s most
famous creatures at Tsavo National Park, located near
the coastal city of Mombasa.
JANUARY 2012 17

PEOPLE
FRIENDS WE’LL MISS
Harold L. Ball
65, planner thereafter, Engineering, Mesa
County Operations Center, Grand Junction,
Colo., died Oct. 27, 2011. He worked
for PSCo from 1970 to 2010.
Margaret A. Burd
83, died Nov. 5, 2011. She worked for NSP
from 1969 to 1988.
Phyllis M. Dorsey
84, state office administrator, died Oct.
25, 2011. She worked for NSP from 1945
to 1985.
Arlo Gerstenberger
86, regulator, Gas Meter Shop, Colorado,
died Oct. 7, 2011. He worked for PSCo
from 1952 to 1986.
William H. Hulcy
79, died Oct. 25, 2011. He worked for SPS
from 1955 to 1994.
Myron “Mike” D. Ingalls
88, died Jan. 2, 2010. He worked for SPS
from 1945 to 1983.
Jack L. Key
79, died Oct. 10, 2011. He worked for SPS
from 1970 to 1997.
Robert J. Lombardi
60, system operator, Colorado, died Oct.
30, 2011. He began working at PSCo
in 1972.
Mathew F. McNamara
85, meter reader, died Oct. 24, 2011. He
worked for NSP from 1957 to 1991.
Wiley M. Moore
72, meterman, Colorado, died Oct. 29,
2011. He worked for PSCo from 1976
to 1996.
Marion A. Muir
100, manager, Employee Services, died
Dec. 20, 2010. She worked for NSP from
1956 to 1975.
Richard D. Nokleby
76, died Nov. 4, 2011. He worked for NSP
from 1960 to 1993.
Richard C. Riefenberg
77, supervisor, Support Services, Mesa
County Operation Center, Grand Junction,
Colo., died Nov. 5, 2011. He worked for
PSCo from 1963 to 1991.
Eugene W. Still
91, operator, Assistant Systems, Colorado,
died Oct. 25, 2011. He worked for
PSCo from 1953 to 1983.
Daniel J. Sullivan
82, died Oct. 10, 2011. He worked for NSP
from 1949 to 1993.
Edwin Wiens
91, training supervisor, Electric Power,
died Oct. 21, 2011. He worked for NSP
from 1946 to 1981.
RETIRING
Stanley C. Brian
working foreman, Northeast Substation,
Boulder, Colo., retires Jan. 31, 2012. He
worked for Xcel Energy for 37 years.
Wesley R. Burger
(VLWWRB@prodigy.net), journeyman
lineman, Operations Management, Lipan
Distribution Center, Denver, Colo., retired
Dec. 9, 2011. He worked for Xcel Energy
for 21 years.
Raymond S. Cruz
(aj9824@msn.com), journeyman, retired
Dec. 16, 2011. He worked for Xcel Energy
for 40 years.
Ron Enneper
(raesnorma@hotmail.com), dispatcher,
System Operations, Eau Clair, Wis.,
retired Dec. 2, 2011. He worked for Xcel
Energy for 20 years.
Mark W. Gilles
team leader, Customer Contact Center,
Eau Claire, Wis., retired Dec. 31, 2011. He
worked for Xcel Energy for 31 years.
Kathy Grant
Foreman Splicer/Mechanic, Underground
Dept., Edina Service Center, Edina, Minn.,
retires Jan. 24, 2012. She worked for Xcel
Energy for 35 years.
Sandy Green
(sandyg4505@concast.net), representative,
Business Solution Center, retired
Dec. 30, 2011. She worked for Xcel
Energy for 26 years.
Beatrice Hernandez
(beahernandez1@gmail.com), technician,
Design and Layout, Lipan Distribution
Center, Denver, Colo., retired Dec. 30,
2011. She worked for Xcel Energy for 29
years.
Jim Illg
(jaillg@charter.net), meter technician,
Meter Department, Red Wing Service
Center, Red Wing, Minn., retires Jan. 27,
2012. He worked for Xcel Energy for
40 years.
Calvin D. Jarrell
(sfjpapa@live.com), mechanic specialist,
Production, Pawnee Generating Station,
Brush, Colo., retired Dec. 16, 2011. He
worked for Xcel Energy for 31 years.
Carl Kruse
(cdkrusefamily@comcast.net), gas operations
technical specialist, Gas Measurement
and Control, Eastern High Pressure
Gas, Lipan Distribution Center, Denver,
Colo., retired Dec. 15, 2011.
Susan Laxson
(laxson@suddenlink.net), meter reading
associate, Order Generation, Amarillo,
Texas, retired Dec. 30, 2011. She worked
for Xcel Energy for 35 years.
John W, Mallow
overhead working foreman, Electric
Distribution, Mesa Couynty Operations
Center, Grand Junction, Colo., retired
Dec. 30, 2011. He worked for Xcel Energy
for 36 years.
Gary W. Miles
(gary.kathymiles67@gmail.com), working
foreman, Brush Substations, Brush, Colo.,
retires Jan. 17, 2012. He worked for Xcel
Energy for more than 30 years.
Glenn A. Monroe
(monroe34@msn.com), gas resource
planning analyst, Gas Resource Planning,
1800 Larimer, Denver, Colo., retired Dec.
30, 2011. He worked for Xcel Energy for
41 years.
18 XTRA JANUARY 2012

PEOPLE
Thomas Morrow
(thomas.morrow@comcast.net), serviceman,
Property Services, Maple Grove
Materials Complex, Maple Grove, Minn.,
retired Dec. 30 2011. He worked for Xcel
Energy for 23 years.
Norman Palm
(normvpalm@gmail.com), specialist, Electric
Distribution, retired Dec. 25, 2011. He
worked for Xcel Energy for 42 years.
Bennett T. Shepherd Jr.
(btshep@hotmail.com), serviceman,
Southwest Service Center, Amarillo,
Texas, retired Jan. 6, 2012. He worked for
Xcel Energy for 34 years.
Bob Sommars
(rsommars@fastmail.net), consultant,
Capital Asset Accounting, 1800 Larimer,
Denver, Colo., retired Dec. 31, 2011. He
worked for Xcel Energy for 40 years.
Paul Weaver
(lunder20@bresnan.net), planner, Design,
Mesa County Operations Center, Grand
Junction, Colo., retired Dec. 26, 2011. He
worked for Xcel energy for 31 years.
Rosemary Whitmire
(the_whitmires@hotmail.com), senior
associate, Field Operations, Construction
Maintenance, Carlsbad, N.M., retired
Dec. 31, 2011. She worked for Xcel
Energy for 35 years.
Elizabeth (Beth) Willis
(willis.beth@gmail.com), vice president,
Corporate Communications, General
Office, Minneapolis, Minn., retired Nov.
30, 2011. She worked for Xcel Energy for
38 years.
Xtra retiree web portal
available on xcelenergy.com
The latest issue of Xtra is posted each
month on a webpage on the company’s
website at: xcelenergy.com/retirees.
Retirees and employees are invited to
visit the page to view the latest issue, as
well as a number of back issues of Xtra.
Links on the page also provide access to
various utility shareholder groups.
AROUND THE
COMPANY
New plug-in options available
for St. Paul drivers
Xcel Energy, the City of Saint Paul and
the Neighborhood Energy Connection recently
announced more options for sustainable
transportation.
Two new plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (EVs)
are now available for use by members of HOUR-
CAR, a car-sharing organization in Saint Paul and
Minneapolis. In addition, St. Paul is installing 20
public stations for charging EVs.
“We’re excited to partner with HOURCAR to
pilot this innovative transportation technology,”
said Judy Poferl, president and CEO of NSP-Minnesota.
“By being a part of this project, we will
obtain important information that will allow us to
better serve the emerging electric-vehicle market.”
Xcel Energy provided $30,000 to HOURCAR for
two hybrid cars, which were converted to plug-in
hybrid electric vehicles. The vehicles are now available
for use by its members in Saint Paul, both of
which are located in the Energy Innovation Corridor.
The Energy Innovation Corridor is an area
along the planned Central Corridor Light Rail
Transit line, and is a showcase of energy
efficiency, renewable energy, transportation
and smart technology.
“With the help of our many partners, Saint
Paul continues to lead the charge in energy
conservation and sustainability,” said Mayor
Chris Coleman. “Our new plug-in vehicle options
will make it even more convenient for people to
get where they need to be in a way that minimizes
their carbon footprint.”
“Thanks to Xcel Energy’s contribution,
residents and employees in downtown Saint Paul
have two great new options for personal transportation,”
said Chris Duffrin, executive director
of HOURCAR’s parent organization, the Neighborhood
Energy Connection. “They can walk, bike or
use transit to commute to work, but when they
need a private car, they can reserve and drive one
of these remarkably ‘green’ plug-in hybrids.”
With 13 cars stationed at nine hubs in the
city, Saint Paul residents and visitors are among
the earliest adopters of advanced transportation
technologies. The plug-in HOURCARs and other
plug-in electric vehicles can be charged at one of
20 public EV charging stations.
The EV charging stations were funded by a
federal stimulus grant to the City of Saint Paul
from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy
Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program.
JANUARY 2012 19

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Xtra
Published monthly by Corporate Communications
Kevin Graham, Editor
1800 Larimer Street, 9th Floor
Denver, CO 80202
Phone: 303-294-2417
Fax: 303-294-2207
email: Kevin.Graham@xcelenergy.com
Contributors: Becka Anders and Marissa Zakheim
Design: Steve Berry
We are proud
to be a part of the
communities we serve.
At Xcel Energy, we care about making our neighborhoods a better place to live.
That’s why we support local events and organizations that help make positive
changes and improve our communities
xcelenergy.com
© 2012 XCEL ENERGY INC.