DENVER -- Xcel Energy said its carbon dioxide emissions will decrease 10 percent by 2017, partly through a combination of renewable energy sources and replacing older coal-fired power plants with natural gas plants.
The company on Thursday announced it will add 800 megawatts of wind power on top of the 1,100 megawatts expected to be installed by the end of this year, boosting the total to 1,900 megawatts by 2015.
Xcel Energy also plans to add 254 megawatts of solar power by 2015, according to its Colorado Resource Plan, filed with state regulators every four years.
And the plan calls for reducing energy consumption by 694 megawatts through improving efficiency and programs encouraging conservation by customers.
Xcel Energy's last resource plan, developed in 2003, estimated its carbon dioxide emissions would increase by 20 percent by 2020. The utility's new plan, which will meet increased demand and replace other generating contracts as they expire, will remove about 6 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year.
"I think it's a major step forward for the state, a major step forward for all of us trying to do the right things for the environment," CEO Richard Kelly said in a conference call with The Associated Press.
Kelly said Xcel Energy will refile its plan in 2009 with the goal of finding a way to reduce emissions by 20 percent by 2020...read more about Xcel Energy reducing carbon emission with solar power
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