PREPARATION

Xcel Seizes Convention Profile With Eye On Congress

by Peter Cohn

Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008


No corporation is enjoying more exposure this week than Xcel Energy, the Minneapolis-based electricity and natural gas company that operates in states throughout the Midwest, Texas and Colorado.

Unlike the case with the Pepsi Center in Denver, few outside the eight states served by Xcel are aware of the company behind the sports arena. But with that name emblazoned on the site where Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., will accept his party's nomination tonight, the firm has become a nationwide household name, serving to further spotlight a hot topic on many voters' minds.

"Energy clearly is a big issue in this election, and we've actually seen a lot of agreement between the candidates," said David Sparby, president of Northern States Power Minnesota, Xcel's operating utility in the state. "They're both concerned about things like global warming and supportive of things like solar and wind and other renewable energy sources."

The company not only lent its name to the convention site but opened its wallet as well, ponying up $1 million to the host committee, according to the George Washington University-based Campaign Finance Institute. Xcel, which is powering both conventions with electricity, also contributed $1 million to the Denver host committee, making it one of the top individual corporate donors to the conventions.

The firm has a variety of legislative interests before Congress and has spent $1.8 million lobbying in 2008, according to disclosure records. Despite playing host to the Republicans, the company's PAC contributions to federal candidates and their fundraising committees have skewed heavily Democratic in this cycle, roughly 68 percent. But the firm has been an equal opportunity donor over the last two cycles -- in 2006, 72 percent of Xcel's donations went to Republicans, according to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics.

Xcel is the country's largest provider of electricity from wind power, which overall has reached 20,000 megawatts of capacity nationwide, the American Wind Energy Association said Wednesday -- doubling the output of just two years ago. Key to sustaining that growth is renewal of the production tax credit expiring Dec. 31, which Sparby said was among Xcel's top legislative priorities. The firm is also seeking renewal of the investment tax credit for solar and fuel-cell power sources along with removal of restrictions that would enable public utilities to claim the credit.

"We need consistent, long-term, predictable policies," Sparby said. "When it gets renewed for just a year at a time or is allowed to lapse, that's horribly disruptive."

Xcel has been prominent this week in other venues as well. It set up a 131-foot wind turbine blade across the street from the Minneapolis Library and today hosts a "Celebrate the Energy" event, featuring live music, polar explorer Will Steger, and the "SmartGridCity Experience." The display highlights examples from its new $100 million project in Boulder, Colo., to create a high-speed communications system with infrastructure to support hybrid electric cars, wind turbines, solar panels, and energy-efficient home appliances.

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