Xcel Energy chairman and chief executive Dick Kelly said cost concerns regarding the utility’s plans to replace coal-fired plants in Colorado with natural-gas generation are justified but that the move is needed to meet carbon-dioxide emissions-reduction goals.
“It’s a difficult balance,” Kelly said Wednesday after Xcel’s annual shareholder meeting in Denver.
The state Office of Consumer Counsel is “properly concerned about cost,” he said.
The OCC has recommended that Xcel defer its plans because of a likely surge in natural-gas prices.
Also Wednesday, Xcel shareholders rejected a pair of proposals that would have separated the roles of chairman and chief executive and changed the utility’s health- care coverage.
The chairman proposal received 18 percent of votes cast and the health-care measure garnered 8 percent, according to results announced at the meeting. A majority vote in favor is required for passage.
Xcel had urged shareholders to vote against the proposals.
Shareholders approved the re-election of 13 board members to one-year terms and the appointment of Deloitte & Touche as Xcel’s principal independent accountant for 2008.
Xcel announced at the meeting that it raised its quarterly dividend from 23 cents per share to 23.75 cents per share, resulting in an annual yield of 4.4 percent based on the company’s closing price of $21.44 on Wednesday. About 60 shareholders attended the meeting.
Minneapolis-based Xcel has 3.7 million customers across its eight-state service region, including 1.6 million in Colorado and nearly 1.3 million in Minnesota.
Andy Vuong: 303-954-1209 or avuong@denverpost.com
