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OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE Culture change leads to success

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Error Likely ReviewsProcess anticipates how and when errors are likely to occur.

Quick ReactionsA unique piece of equipment is providing reliable power.

Five YearsPlenty of success achieved via culture change known as Operational Excellence.

Always DeliveringNew ad campaign makes the invisible visible.

Process EfficiencyProgram helps drive Xcel Energy’s “Compete for Customers” strategy.

Storm ResponseThunderstorms affected 250,000 customers in Minnesota and Wisconsin last month.

PeopleThe most recent Friends We’ll Miss and Retirements.

On the CoverOperational Excellence at Xcel Energy focuses on a few key elements, including: standard and consistent business processes; disciplined approaches to continuous improvement; and the steady pursuit of top-quartile results through the regular use of competitive benchmarks. Pictured here is the new combustion-turbine facility at Cherokee Generating Station in Denver. For more information, please see page eight.

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(Editor’s Note: Ben Fowke, chairman, president and CEO, periodically writes a blog on XpressNet, as well as other articles and communications. Xtra features Fowke’s comments on a recurring basis to share his thoughts with a wider audience.)

After four-and-a-half decades of consistently producing power to meet roughly 10 percent of our Upper Midwest customers’ needs, Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant arguably deserved a day off for its birthday.

But believe it or not, Monticello wanted to work on its birthday. Days off for nuclear plants usually aren’t a good thing. Monticello, which delivers base-load energy around the clock, has achieved a nearly 100 percent capacity factor so far in 2016, and had extended its current operational streak to an impressive 212 con-secutive days as of June 30, 2016 – its 45th birthday. Plant employees celebrated the anniversary of

the June 1971 commissioning with birthday cake during a special celebration. It was fine to blow out candles that day, as long as the lights stayed on. And the Monticello team is doing just that, and is hitting its stride in important ways. Last fall, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission up-graded Monticello’s oversight category to Column 1 – its highest standard for industry performance. To me, the phrases “improved performance” and “positive trajectory” describe the efforts of our nuclear team. Most of you know I am a huge proponent of nuclear energy and have spent a lot of my time this year focused on improving our nuclear fleet. It’s the most reliable, carbon-free energy source at our disposal, accounting for 27 percent of our energy mix in the Upper Midwest at the end of last year. Nuclear remains an integral part of our resource plan. By 2030, we expect 63 percent of our electric generation in the Upper Midwest to be carbon free – and nuclear will account for almost half. To put it plainly, we can’t decarbonize respon-sibly without nuclear in the mix. We are committed to operating our nuclear facilities at Monticello and Prairie Island through their licensing periods (Monti-cello, 2030; Prairie Island, 2033/2034), and possibly extending them. We are having ongoing dialogues with our state regulators about what it will take to run the facilities while also meeting our carbon targets. In the mean-time, let’s keep that birthday streak going.

Monticello celebrates another year of service

CEO Message

“Nuclear remains an integral

part of our resource plan.”

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Error Likely Reviews

By anticipating how and when errors are likely to occur, they often can be avoided. A new process at Comanche Generating Station in Pueblo, Colo., is designed to minimize errors, while making work safer and more efficient. Initiated earlier this year during a maintenance outage, the Error Likely Job Review form is a detailed checklist used during large or higher risk jobs at the plant as their scope changes. The new form ensures that all involved parties are on the same page throughout all aspects of work, said Ruben Roman, maintenance manager at Comanche. “The idea started with a discussion in our Human Perfor-mance Team meeting,” he said, “in which we were trying to figure out how to identify our most ‘error-likely’ situations when performing work. “I then adapted a form being used by the Overhaul Man-agement Team and presented it to the Comanche maintenance supervisors and foremen,” he added. “Together we developed what we are using today.” The job-review form ties together human-performance tools, error-likely situations and work-management processes, said Connie Vaught, maintenance superintendent at Comanche. “The form enables us to review multiple processes that should align to make work safer and more efficient,” she said. “It forces us to slow down and evaluate what we will be doing during each job being undertaken – looking at who is respon-sible and at what critical points will we stop and do a careful review before we proceed.” The Error Likely Job Review checklist outlines in detail

diverse aspects related to a specific job at the power plant. The three areas highlighted by the form include a review of the project lead’s roles and responsibilities, the work schedule for the job, and a thorough review of safety concerns and potential “hold points” for particularly delicate tasks that require careful consideration (a deliberate pause in work called “tailgating”). This deliberate and holistic approach to jobs provides valuable insight into data from those three inter-related aspects of the work, she said, verifying processes and procedures so efficiency and potential safety issues are effectively addressed. The intent of the Error Likely Job Review process is to allow Comanche staff and work crews to evaluate how well they initially planned the work and to complete the work safely while minimizing potential human performance errors. That means taking time to evaluate the project before work is started, she said, as well as throughout the execution of the job. Because of Comanche’s focus on work management, human performance and safety at the plant, the form was developed to provide insight and data for all three areas, as any one aspect that is not done well will affect the others, Roman explained. Maintenance, repair, installation and construction jobs are all candidates for the use of the Error Likely Job Review form. As an added bonus, every job since the implementation of the new process has been completed on time, he said. And due to the up-front planning and hold point that are part of the process, work at Comanche has become more efficient. Yet another advantage offered by the process is the greatly improved communication between everyone involved in carrying

New job-review process helps with potential mistakes

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out various work at the power plant, Vaught said. “The discussions with the crews during the initial review have exceeded my expectations because everyone is providing input – from apprentices to journeymen,” she said. “This has led to improved communication, and everyone realizing they can provide valuable input. “The most experienced workers are not dominating the review process,” she added. “Our work crews have been engaged, and regularly have stopped work as a job’s scope has changed in order to evaluate it.” Roman stressed the fact that since the new Error Likely Job Review process was initiated, crews regularly have stopped work to ensure that potential mistakes were avoided. For example, when several motors at the plant were being removed to be sent out for inspection, a mechanic specialist stopped the job during a “hold point” due to unsafe rigging by the driver of the shipping company. And during startup of Comanche’s Unit One auxiliary transformer last year, a control specialist requested an additional “hold point” to brief his crew one more time to ensure that no mistakes were made. “This change is a huge shift in our work culture,” Roman said. “And I believe it also is contributing to our overall success in improving safety.” Vaught agreed, pointing out that she believes Comanche Station will continue to improve its safety record, thanks to the job review process. “We believe that using tools like the Error Likely Job Review form has contributed heavily to our achievement of zero accidents since November of 2014,” she said.

Review process includes many aspects Along with a series of detailed questions that need to be answered as part of the Error Likely Review process at Comanche, a list of considerations also is noted at the bottom of the form. These steps are included as part of the overall effort because power plant leaders want employees to have a significant voice in the process. “And we hear them loud and clear on every review,” said Ruben Roman, maintenance manager at Comanche. Review the following questions and summarize your action plan below:• Summarize the Critical Steps – What steps, if done wrong,

would have immediate negative consequences? These should be listed as “hold points.”

• Prior Performance – What lessons learned from previous experience can be applied?

• Error Likely Situations – Where and when are you most likely to make a mistake? Consider demands, environment, individual capabilities and human nature.

• Anticipate the Worst Case – What could go wrong and how do we recover/escape?

• Kinds of Defenses – What defenses or controls do we need, and have we addressed them adequately?

Comanche Generating Station

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A unique piece of Xcel Energy equipment is provid-ing reliable power and meeting new customer needs on the company’s New Mexico system, thanks to dedicated teamwork by employees and collaboration between work groups. The equipment is called a Static Var Compensator (SVC), and two of them are now energized at two new substations in New Mexico. An SVC is able to react quickly to stabilize the system when there are large fluctuations in energy, such as a major power out-age, said Tony Jandro, director of Transmission Portfolio Delivery. The SVCs were installed to meet a specific customer need, but also will accommodate the system for future growth. Xcel En-ergy team members worked together to design, plan and install the equipment on an extremely tight timeline, he said, while also coming in on budget. “Essentially, we took what would normally be two four-year projects and condensed them into approximately 16 months,” Jandro said. “We were able to safely engineer, procure and

construct these SVCs on such a tight turnaround due to tremen-dous teamwork between internal employees in transmission and a variety of our vendor partners.” One of the biggest challenges included securing the materials. “Our team had to make a decision on a vendor quickly to order the equipment, which normally requires at least two years of lead time,” said Cory Wood, manager of Transmission Project Management. “Xcel Energy transmission line and substation crews per-formed the major expansions of both substations and the trans-mission line build-out to allow for the required SVCs,” Wood added. “Everyone involved deserves a lot of credit for executing these projects safely.” The SVC installed at the Roadrunner Substation, located about 40 miles southeast of Carlsbad, was energized in the spring. And the second SVC, installed at the China Draw Substation, about 20 miles south of Carlsbad, was energized in May.

Teamwork leads to fast install and a stable grid

Quick Reactions

SVCsTwo Static Var Compensators recently were energized at two new substations in New Mexico. They were installed to meet a specific customer need, but also will help with future growth.

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News Briefs

Xcel Energy honored for supporting military members

Once again, Xcel Energy has been recognized for supporting members of the National Guard and Reserve. The company recently received the Pro-Patria award, the highest honor bestowed by the state Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) Committee, a U.S. Department of Defense office. “It’s an honor to receive this recognition from the armed forces,”

said Ben Fowke, chairman, president and CEO. “We value the leadership, knowledge and skills our military mem-bers bring to the job every day. They are a vital part of our national defense and an invaluable part of our team.” Chris Pecore, senior assessor in Nuclear Oversight, nominated the company for the honor, due to his own experience as a 17-year veteran who came to Xcel Energy and found a welcoming and military-friendly atmosphere. “This is a flexible, understanding company that is incredibly support-ive not only of hiring veterans, but

in allowing active-duty employees to continue serving their country while being employed,” Pecore said. “Many of us here at the Prairie Island plant are in the Reserve and Guard, and we appreciate how Xcel Energy stands behind its policies to help us keep serving.” ESGR also recently presented Minnesota’s Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant with an Above and Beyond award for going the extra mile to support Guard and Reserve employees. Xcel Energy is committed to 10 percent of all new hires coming from a military background.

Natural gas service expanding in Minnesota

Being the energy provider of choice is rapidly becoming a reality as the company expands its natural gas business in northwest Minnesota. Gas Business Development and Gas Operations are teaming up again to bring choice to customers in Ulen and Hitterdal. While construction kicked off in July, the Gas Business Development team had been working with the communities over the past two years. Once the project was given regulatory approval, targeted sales efforts began with local residents and businesses. The largest customer, West Central Ag Services, will switch to Xcel Energy jurisdictional service on Sept. 1. The overall customer potential includes 45 commercial and 323 residential customers. Many businesses and residents throughout the

country have been hard hit by fluctuating propane and fuel oil prices, but don’t have access to natural gas. Natural gas provides many benefits, such as being domestically produced, and safe, clean and easy to use. Unlike electric service, the natural gas business does not have a Minnesota Public Utilities Commission desig-nated service territory. It’s truly a competitive business. Every year, employees work with customers who are near the company’s natural gas infrastructure to make the switch from propane or fuel oil. And while the price of natural gas service is attractive, customers’ decisions are favorably tipped as they take advantage of rebates for appliances that need to be converted or replaced. Bringing natural gas to a new area involves regula-tory and community approvals, and projects have to clear company economic hurdles, as well. In some cases, customers pay a monthly extension or new area service charge to help pay for the new infrastructure.

Xcel Energy proposes updates to CIP program

Imagine if a company paid its customers to use less of its product. Well, Xcel Energy’s proposed energy efficiency plan, which it submitted to the Minnesota Department of Commerce’s Division of Energy Resources in June, builds on an industry-leading track record to do just that. The 2017-2019 Conservation Improvement Program (CIP) Triennial Plan details the programs Xcel Energy will implement over the filing period, and includes extending several successful programs for electricity and natural gas conservation, as well as new programs for the filing period. Energy companies around the country use energy-efficiency programs such as rebates and incentives to help their customers save money on their bills and use less electricity and gas. Since 1992, Xcel Energy’s pro-grams have saved customers approximately 7.8 million megawatt-hours of electricity in Minnesota. According to the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalan-cies Calculator, that’s enough energy to power one million

homes, enabling Xcel Energy to avoid building 12 medium-sized power plants. “Our conservation programs give customers a variety of options to save money on their monthly bills and reduce their carbon footprint,” said Dan Nygaard, vice president of Customer Solutions. “It’s as easy as picking up dis-counted LED bulbs at local retailers or choosing energy-efficient equipment and having the installer fill out the rebate paperwork.” New programs proposed this year will extend the avail-able offerings to areas that have been harder to reach, such as apartment building owners and facility managers of large commercial buildings. “Often, the tenants in apartment buildings pay the bills, but the building owner is responsible for the appli-ances and heating or cooling systems,” Nygaard said. “We think by reaching the owners, we can help save energy, while also helping the tenants save money.” Other new programs such as training for commercial building operators also are proposed in the filing.

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As the new leader of Energy Supply in 2009, Kent Larson found dozens of power plants running operations in their own ways. “In a way, it was like 40 different businesses. We weren’t leveraging our size,” said Larson, now executive vice president and group president of Operations. “I thought, ‘We have a real opportunity to make a change here.’ “There were a lot of good ideas at each of our plants,” he added. “We wanted to spread those best practices across the fleet and centralize operations.” And with that thinking began the first inclinations of what today has become Operational Excellence – a key element of the

company’s Strategic Call to Action. “Operational Excellence is a description of a culture,” Larson said. “It is a description of how we work and try to improve every day.” Late in 2011, a number of Xcel Energy business units came together under the leadership of Larson, as he took on new responsibilities beyond just Energy Supply. Now, five years later, a number of successes have been achieved via the ongoing culture change known as Operational Excellence. Operational Excellence (OE) focuses on a few key elements. They include:• Standard and consistent business processes.

FIVE YEARS of Operational Excellence success – with more to come

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• Disciplined approaches to continuous improvement.• And the steady pursuit of top-quartile results through the

regular use of competitive benchmarks. Two major successes under the OE banner are the company’s safety results and the Productivity Through Technology (PTT) effort, he said. For safety, the last five years have spelled a consistent lowering of employee injuries. And in fact, the string of years of improvement now totals eight. Operational Excellence provides the platform, but the real drivers are the employees, their strong commitment to safety and our sharing of best practices. As for PTT, the program is helping the company create

a culture of continuous improvement and consistent business processes. Work and Asset Management (WAM) will standard-ize work roles and processes, increase the company’s ability to leverage data, and enhance both efficiency and customer service. The company is fortunate to have Michael Lamb (vice president and Operations chief of staff) leading the PTT transformation work, Larson said. With PTT, after a learning curve, common practices will become more the norm and result in more efficiency gains, Larson said, which will bring OE successes to a new level. For instance, there will be much more data and information available to create further improvements.

of Operational Excellence success – with more to come

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“Our work over the next five years will create even more impressive results around safety, costs, performance and customer service,” he said. “We will continue to build on our past successes.” That is thanks to the work of employees, Larson said, and that work leads to what it’s all about – satisfied customers. “From a customer perspective, the better job we do in terms of service and cost, the happier they will be,” he said. “And as we remove obstacles from our processes, our employees will be more satisfied and productive. “Our employees already have a reputation for excellence in the industry,” he added. “That should only grow in the coming years. “Working together, we have dramatically improved safety, reliability, service and efficiency,” he said. “And we will build on our successes over the next five years.” Each of Larson’s leaders has helped with the push for excellence in each of their own organizations. The following are brief looks at major successes and some overall thoughts on Operational Excellence.

Distribution For Larry Crosby, senior vice president of Distribution, the

OE culture change is represented by the business unit’s industry-recognized, storm-restoration efforts, cost efficiency efforts and overall safety performance. “Not only do we complete storm-restoration efforts efficiently to get customers back online as quickly as possible, but we also now perform proactive, ‘what-if’ planning,” Crosby said. “With a likelihood of damage, we now can pre-stage resources and be ready to respond as soon as a storm hits.” For instance, the company managed more than 50 major storm events in 2015 and restored service to 90 percent of customers within 12 hours. And in recognition of successfully restoring service after a major Twin Cities storm last year, the Edison Electric Institute awarded the company its Emergency Recovery Award. Other awards have followed since. Distribution has also focused on creating consistent best practices and processes to drive cost-efficiency, after central-izing the business unit early in 2012. Between year-end 2011 through 2015, the business unit has delivered a 0.5 percent average annual O&M growth rate, while offsetting significant increases in work volume. In addition the business unit has improved its overall safety performance by more than 50 percent since coming together

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four years ago. “Our safety results represent our employees’ commitment to our ‘Journey to Zero’ aspirations and reflects on the quality of employee that we have at Xcel Energy,” Crosby added. “They care.” As Distribution points to the future, strong focus will remain on safety, reliability and cost efficiency. Additionally, plans are well under way to modernize the electric grid via its Advanced Grid Intelligence and Security program. The program will position the grid to operate in a distributed-energy environment, enhance reliability, and position future product and service offerings, he said. “Lastly, and most importantly, we are ramping up strategic plans in partnership with our key business partners to elevate the overall experience for customers,” Crosby said, “with em-phasis on cultural, process and technology solutions that make sense to our customers.”

Transmission Full competition has hit Transmission due to new federal regulations, and the business unit has reacted by developing its competitive capability quickly. Growing that capability, in turn,

has led to improvements in Operational Excellence. “We had to change our thinking from a utility mindset to one centered on competition,” said Teresa Mogensen, senior vice president of Transmission. “And we had to do it in a hurry.” To tackle the challenge, the business unit created “trans-cos,” or stand-alone businesses, which are aimed at engaging in competitive bidding for projects and moving through the related various regulatory filings. Xcel Energy now has three transcos – one each in the company’s north, south and west geographic areas. Creating those businesses was a transformational experience, she said, requiring help from many different parts of the company. “For starters, we needed to develop the ability to effec-tively create and submit bids,” she said. “It entailed an evolution in thinking in our world. However, doing it has driven changes throughout the organization. “It had a wonderful collateral effect, and estimates for our day-to-day work are now much better,” she added. “Improve-ments in processes needed to enter the competitive world are now coming back inside our group to help our required, everyday work in the service territory.” In terms of Operational Excellence, the changes are helping

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Transmission refine its work and vision for the future, she said. “Making our operations more focused and controlled will result in cost savings and better effectiveness,” Mogensen said. “Although we had a focus on excellence before, the evolution of a competitive world is driving more efficiency and hopefully, more work outside our normal scope.” Next up in Xcel Energy’s transco world is a possible winning bid for a project in Indiana and Kentucky.

Gas Doing things right the first time, being safe in terms of both employees and customers, and saving money are the three focal areas in Gas around its Operational Excellence efforts. Regarding that first focal point, Xcel Energy’s operator-caused outages on its gas system have dropped from 26 to six to two in subsequent years, said Cheryl Campbell, senior vice president of Gas. “We are standardizing our work and procedures doing things proactively before problems occur,” she said. “It’s about keeping gas in the pipes and staying in front of what needs to be done to make that happen safely. We want it fixed before it happens.” All of this work centers around the business unit’s PIPES program. The multi-year initiative stands for “Proactively Improving Pipeline and Employee Safety.” “Through the PIPES initiative, we are setting a high standard for how we build, inspect, operate and maintain our gas system,” Campbell said. “It is our own internal effort around Operational Excellence, and it’s about changing our culture and how we do our work every day.” For instance, pipe inspections continue to get better and better as new technology is developed, she said. And a lot more innovation is headed that way in the next decade. In addition, work continues on standardizing work on vari-ous gas assets, as well as for repairs on different types of pipe. Improving tracking measure and traceability for recalls of certain assets also is part of the effort. “We want to be consistent with all of our work to both

better understand the risks and lessen them,” she said. “We are continuously striving to improve the way we operate.”

Energy Supply Energy Supply’s Operating Model entailed the first major effort to adopt the tenets of Operational Excellence five years ago. The business unit now will lead the way in adopting and using WAM at the company. “The reason we’re first out of the gate with WAM is because of the process focus of our Operating Model Playbook,” said Riley Hill, senior vice president of Energy Supply. “Had we not been early through centralization and standardization efforts with the Playbook, we would not be ready for the WAM rollout. Our Operating Model set the stage on how we should work as an organization.” The Operating Model Playbook creates a solid framework to help the business unit meet its goal of completing work uniformly across the fleet. “The Playbook is an outline of how we do business,” Hill said. “It helps us leverage knowledge and expertise across the entire organization.” The Playbook covers broad topics such as unit operation, work management, performance measures, and roles and re-sponsibilities. It contains the principles Energy Supply follows to manage, operate and maintain the company’s generating assets. “The Playbook helped ease internal competition within Energy Supply,” he said. “Everyone wants to be the best, but the idea was to continue improving our operations across the board in a uniform fashion – and then worry about competing externally in the utility industry via benchmarking. “The idea was to adopt best practices, change the way we operate and standardize the way we do business across the board,” he added. “We wanted to leverage all of our knowledge and experience, and achieve better results through common practices.”

Supply Chain Hard to believe, perhaps, but Supply Chain is on track to

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achieve its goal of $210 million in savings this year. That compares to a $17 million savings goal in 2009 when a savings goal was first established. How has the group done it? “We’ve done this in partnership with the other business units,” said Gary O’Hara, vice president of Supply Chain. “System-wide, we’re leveraging the size and scale of the company.” Those savings, which are now top-quartile results based on national industry benchmarking, are a combination of hard savings and cost avoidance. In terms of hard savings, when you can buy a foot of wire for 90 cents instead of $1.00, the results are obvious. Cost-avoidance savings are a little more complicated. It is the amount the company is able to drop the price of a project or purchase from the original bid, he said. For instance, with six bids in for a transmission project, Xcel Energy will first look at the assumptions the bidders used. After considering the various assumptions, another round of negotiations then starts clarifying the exact work and materials needed, he said, with details on how a project will be completed. Do that for three or four rounds, and despite the additional work required, the resulting cost savings can be significant. In terms of Operational Excellence, Supply Chain provides four main values to the company, O’Hara said. They include: Taking costs out of the business; building relationships with key suppliers to provide great operational efficiencies, such as scheduling; managing contract risks in terms of quality obliga-tions such as warranties; and supporting customers through the use of a local and diverse supplier base, flowing money back into the communities.

Customer Care In the last five years, Customer Care has dropped its cost of doing business while creating better results – the essence of Operational Excellence. “We’ve done a lot of things to make that happen,” said Michael Gersack, vice president of Customer Care. “From reading a meter to having someone pay a bill, we want that cycle to run as smoothly as possible.” Those processes involve crucial elements of the business – from meter reading to billing and from customer service to credit and collections. “If there is a problem, it creates both work for the customer and for us,” he added. “And right up front, if we don’t read a meter correctly, that can and will lead to other problems.” To limit that potential host of problems, Customer Care has improved various processes and customer tools, such as the Interactive Voice Response system, where 60 percent of calls now go. And those improvements have come along with a high level of employee engagement, he said. “We make sure we support our employees and now have the highest level of engagement at the company,” Gersack said. “We couldn’t effectively meet our customers’ needs without that engagement. “Making everything work better is our goal via our systems, people and processes,” he added. “We’ve created an environ-ment where employees continue to work to do things better in a

normal and standard fashion.” “Every customer counts” is Customer Care’s theme, he said, and everything needs to work together to make that happen. “It’s not one thing,” Gersack said. “It’s a combination of dozens of things that has allowed us to improve.”

Commercial Operations Commercial Operations’ Black Start project – four years in the making – is a great example of various company organizations working together to complete a complicated and crucial effort. If the unthinkable happens and the company

loses the grid, a Black Start is needed to restore it by first loading one transmission line, then moving to other generating units and lines. The former Black Start involved Cabin Creek Hydro, but that meant leaving some water unused and some electric generation on the table every day. “Our team first identified the opportunity to capture cus-tomer cost savings by considering the water typically reserved for black start service,” said Tom Imbler, vice president of Commer-cial Operations. “We ran an economic analysis and also started exploring other alternative generation solutions.” In the end, the preferred plan involved an outside supplier. Plains End was of interest because of its flexibility, he said, with its many diesel units that could be operated to fit the frequency and voltage needs of the system during a restoration event. And with the new alternative in place, the company will save about $530,000 a year, for a total net savings of $6.5 million over the remaining life of the purchase power agreement with Plains End. “There was water at Cabin Creek that we weren’t using every day, and we saw the opportunity to save customers money and do it differently,” Imbler said. “Through our efforts, which also involved Energy Supply and Transmission, we’re doing more with less – and regulators and customers like that. “Plus, it fits the outline of Operational Excellence very well,” he added. “To that end, we’re always looking for ways to run the fleet more efficiently and save money.”

“Our Operational Excellence effort involves a long-term journey and one worth continuing,” said Larson. “We have made great progress over the last five years – something we want to celebrate – and we look forward to even more success in the coming five years.”

Kent Larson

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ALWAYS DELIVERINGNEW AD CAMPAIGN LOOKS TO MAKE THE INVISIBLE VISIBLE Over the past few months, teams from Xcel Energy and Yamamoto, the company’s new advertising agency, have worked to develop a new advertising campaign. After extensive research, countless concepts were developed. The teams then tested the best ones with customers, and the new campaign launched last month. Television ads began airing in early August. If you haven’t caught the new advertising or want to see it again, or want to see a video about the creation of the new campaign, you can check them out in the Ad Campaign section of the Brand Resource Center on XpressNet. “We’ve posted a few other videos to show how we got to this concept and let employees ‘peek under the hood’ of the ‘Always Delivering’ campaign,” said Amy Kromminga, group manager of Advertising and Brand Strategy. “You also can see some of the print and digital ads that are appearing, and hear some of the new radio ads, as well.” The campaign is based on the idea that energy

– along with Xcel Energy’s products and services – is largely invisible, she said. But if the company could somehow make energy visible, it could get customers to think about it – and Xcel Energy – differently. “After all, we can’t build preference and trust if we don’t first build awareness,” Kromminga said. “We developed the campaign with our refined brand strategy in mind,” she added. “It uses simple language and consistent, entertaining visuals. Add in some subtle humor and a friendly approach, and we think it will reso-nate with residential and business customers alike.” “It’s been great working with Xcel Energy on this new campaign,” said Andy Thieman, executive creative director at Yamamoto. “For Xcel Energy to arrive at the idea that it wants people to like it, frankly, is a novel idea. There aren’t a lot of energy companies that particu-larly care whether or not people like them. “Everything Xcel Energy is physically is either in a pipe underground or an overhead line or stuck in the walls of your house,” he added. “Your product is invisible and maybe the company in a certain way is invisible, too.

“We thought the campaign had an opportunity to be a clean, novel, fresh approach – something that we could make really magical in

presenting an idea about how to make the invisible visible.”

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So we just tried to think of ways to make your invisible product more visible – and that is where we landed.” After many rounds developing ideas, the teams landed on the idea of – what if your energy was delivered to your house in a red box. “You’d then think about it differently,” Thieman said. “Or maybe you’d just actually think about it.” “We thought the campaign had an opportunity to be a clean, novel, fresh approach – something that we could make really magical in presenting an idea about how to make the invisible visible,” Kromminga added. “And what the creators did was create a delivery guy who is the personification of energy.” He is literally this bundle of energy – nothing but optimistic and positive. He embodies all of the things that Xcel Energy wanted in the campaign, she said, and as a plus, it turns out that’s just the actor’s way. “So it came really naturally to him,” she said. “And he was just awesome to work with. “In the end, the campaign aims to show customers all of the great work that employees at Xcel Energy bring to them, even if it is inherently invisible,” she added. “We think employees are really going to like what they see in this new campaign,” she said.

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Monticello MorningDavid Shore at the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant in Monticello, Minn., took this early morning photo of the plant with its stack silhouetted against the sky and steam rising from a set of water-cooling towers.

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 email address listed on the back page of this publication. By submitting images for “Photo Op,” employees give Xtra permission to run the photos.

News Brief

Photo Op

Xcel Energy earns EEI award for restoration efforts

The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) recently presented Xcel Energy with the association’s “Emergency Recovery Award” for its outstanding power-restoration efforts after

Winter Storm Goliath hit New Mexico and Texas last December. The award is pre-sented twice annually to EEI member companies to recognize their extraordi-

nary efforts to restore power to customers after service disruptions caused by severe weather conditions or other natural events. The winners were chosen by a panel of judges following an international nomination process, and the awards were presented during EEI’s Annual Convention in Chicago. Beginning on Dec. 26, Winter Storm Goliath impacted Xcel Energy’s New Mexico and Texas service area. White-

out conditions, wind chills below zero and sustained winds of up to 80 mph swept through the region. These factors combined with heavy snowfall and resulted in 10,500 customers with sustained outages. Xcel Energy’s crews worked safely and quickly to restore service to 100 percent of its customers by Dec. 30 in the face of challenging conditions. “Xcel Energy’s terrific effort to restore service in the wake of Winter Storm Goliath exemplifies our industry’s commitment to customer service,” said Tom Kuhn, EEI president. “The company’s crews who braved difficult and dangerous conditions to quickly and safely restore service to customers are greatly deserving of this honor.” David Hudson, president of Xcel Energy – New Mexico and Texas, said Xcel Energy routinely deploys crews and supplies ahead of big winter storms, which proved to be wise with this storm. “We encountered snowdrifts up to 15-feet high, blocking roads to the point that not even the National Guard could get through,” he said. “And we were still able to restore power to most customers within a 12-hour period.”

17 AUGUST 15, 2016

Process Efficiency

Maximizing energy efficiency is smart. It’s good for business and good for the environment. To that end, an innovative Xcel Energy program is offering large commercial and industrial (C&I) customers opportunities to significantly increase the energy efficiency of their operations, while realizing impressive and ongoing savings on their utility bills. The Process Efficiency program helps those customers identify improved energy-efficiency opportunities, and then implement well-planned, long-term solutions that bring continued savings, said Steve Warkentin, senior program manager in Colorado. Key to the success of the Process Efficiency (PE) program is a ho-listic approach that includes working closely with business customers to understand both their business practices and technical processes to develop a complete and sustainable approach to improve energy use. The PE program and many others run by the Customer Solu-tions group are helping drive Xcel Energy’s “Compete for Customers” strategy – a key element of the Four Pillar Plan for delivering on the Strategic Call to Action. “The program started in Minnesota in 2007 and was expanded to Colorado in 2009, and each state has had a number of excellent program managers over the years,” he said. “In particular, Tami Gunderzik [senior program manager, Minnesota] played an integral role in creating the initial program. “At the time, many customers were either not participating in Demand Side Management (DSM) programs or were participating piecemeal in some of our end-use programs,” he said. “That approach may be fine for office buildings, but when customers also use a lot of electricity for their manufacturing or other processes, many different decision makers – with potentially conflicting interests – can be involved.” For example, there may be any number of facilities managers, production managers and maintenance managers involved. For those customers, PE’s holistic approach to energy savings is more effective, he said. In gaining a company’s management support and approval, the PE approach has been successful in guiding many energy-efficiency projects to completion – creating opportunities that may not have otherwise materialized, added Lori Nielsen, senior program manager in Minnesota. The PE program uses a three-phase approach to create customized energy-saving alternatives for C&I customers. The first step involves participating companies attending a free one-day session given by Xcel Energy and its partner, Graphet Inc. The session uses benchmarking and analysis tools to analyze energy-related practices – everything from business processes to management systems to industry-specific processes.

Program helps large customers produce impressive savings

18 XTRA AUGUST 15, 2016

Letters

During a high-level, walk-through audit, energy-saving opportunities are then identified, Nielsen explained, and the re-sults are presented in an assessment report, which summarizes energy-management processes and highlights action items for improving efficiency and increasing savings.

During the second phase, the full scope of the customized, potential energy efficiency improvements is presented, along with a detailed recommended action plan. Xcel Energy provides all engineering and technical studies to develop the energy-sav-ing initiatives. It also funds almost all of the costs of the studies, with C&I customers paying only a small portion so they will be more likely to follow through with the efficiency upgrades. Phase three involves the actual implementation of energy-efficiency improvements. A timeline for installation of selected equipment improvements is set, and Xcel Energy staff review the customized PE proposal for rebates, bonuses and ongoing support. “Essentially, the PE process studies all of a customer’s energy use – and along with the customer’s senior management – creates a plan for continuous improvement across all systems,” Warkentin said. “Customers can get higher rebate levels by implementing bundles of different types of projects, which include efforts that would not likely be implemented individually. The bundles help create even more savings and contribute, of course, to higher customer satisfaction.” Xcel Energy’s C&I customers that have participated in the PE program, in both Colorado and Minnesota, have included a

wide range of manufacturers. They include producers of pharmaceuticals, circuit boards, petroleum products, and packaged food and beverages. Many water and wastewater districts also have been active participants – directly benefitting the communities served by those districts, he added. Xcel Energy’s customers with at least two gigawatt-hours per year of energy consumption are now eligible to participate in the PE program. The company currently is promoting the PE program to hospitals as new participants. “Since its inception and across both states, the program has saved customers more than 425 gigawatt-hours of incre-mental, first-year savings,” Nielsen said. “More importantly, the program is cost effective, provides net benefits and contributes to Xcel Energy’s corporate incentive from DSM achievement. “The program’s long-term plans are a benefit to the customer and a road map for future achievements, but they inherently do involve long sales cycles,” she added. “We’re es-sentially working today for success in 2017 and 2018.” The clear success of the PE program was recognized in 2011 by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. The council selected Xcel Energy’s Colorado PE program as a “Champion of Energy Efficiency.” “Xcel Energy’s industrial programs have for many years been noted as among the best designed and most responsive to industrial customer needs,” the council stated. “These programs have established strong working relationships between the pro-gram staff and their customers, providing continuity of program staffing and offerings – a key element for success.” And the PE program has great potential for ongoing suc-cess, Warkentin said. According to a recent industry report, about 30 percent of U.S. companies’ energy use is wasted through controllable inefficiencies. “The figures for individual companies can vary, of course,” he said. “But when one thinks of all the different C&I func-tions – from manufacturing to packaging, and from lighting and heating to running computer servers – it’s not hard to believe that most businesses have a lot of room for improvement.”

Process EfficiencyThe Process Efficiency program and many others run by the Customer Solutions group are helping drive Xcel En-ergy’s “Compete for Customers” strategy. Pictured above is Sports Authority Stadium and on page 17 is piping at the Littleton-Englewood Wastewater Treatment Plant.

“Xcel Energy’s industrial programs have for many years been noted as among the

best designed and most responsive to industrial customer needs.”

19 AUGUST 15, 2016

Customers send thanks for power-restoration efforts

Following severe thunderstorms in Minnesota and Wisconsin on the evening of July 5, Xcel Energy crews worked day and night to make needed repairs and restore power for the 250,000 customers affected. As many as 1,600 workers – including mutual aid and contract workers from 17 states – worked to restore

service. Throughout the effort, the company heard from customers grateful for its rapid and dedicated outage re-sponse, proactive communication about

outages and efforts to provide responses to questions. Customer posts on social media demonstrated the effect employees’ customer-focused mindset can have on customers’ perception of the company, even when their power is out. Responses included:• Thank you, Xcel Energy, for all your hard work to get

power restored to the many who lost power in last night’s storm. You are true heroes!

• I want to thank your professional crews for their efforts. It was interesting to watch all of the damage on your outage map, knowing that there are hundreds of other fixes needed after each relieved homeowner’s refrigera-tor starts running.

• Thank you for this update and for how responsive you have been during this high volume time!

• Thank you, to the employees’ families, who share a family member to help ensure that our power and gas service is restored during severe weather.

• Social media was very effective in the last mass outage. Keep up the hard work.

• Power is back on! Thank your crews for their tireless work to get Golden Valley back on the grid!

• I would like to send my sincere thanks to whoever took the time to research my address and give me an honest answer as to what to expect.

• Thanks for working so hard and fast to get our power restored.

• It was much appreciated last night when we were able to bring our kids back home because the power was on again! Thanks to the guys for working on this all day in the heat!

• Thank your crews! They are doing an awesome job! Let them know how much they are appreciated!

• I’m really impressed by the quick response of Xcel En-ergy. You and your team are heroes!

Xcel Energy’s leaders expressed their appreciation, as well. “This took significant coordination and leadership by many of you around the clock,” said Larry Crosby, senior vice president of Distribution. “Thank you for caring and making a difference.”

Letters

News Brief

Xcel Energy boosts eastern Texas Panhandle power grid

Xcel Energy has completed a major high-voltage transmission project in Gray and Wheeler counties in the eastern Texas Panhandle that will help sustain industrial development and position the regional economy for con-tinued growth as electricity demand increases. The company recently energized a new 115-kilovolt, 38-mile transmission line between the Bowers Substation

near Lefors in Gray County and the Howard Substa-tion in the city of Wheeler in Wheeler County. The $39 million project also includes significant up-grades at both the Bowers

and Howard substations to accommodate the new line. “The demands on the transmission network have grown over the past decade with increased oil and gas drilling, and the ensuing growth in industries that add value to these raw materials,” said Donnie TeBeest, project manager with Transmission. “Without the new line, it would have been a challenge to regulate the flow of power in that area while meeting the growing needs for electricity.” The new line was envisioned six years ago when the Southwest Power Pool identified possible bottlenecks

and voltage issues in the eastern Panhandle, which had not seen significant upgrades in power infrastructure in decades. Xcel Energy took on the project as part of its Power for the Plains transmission enhancement initiative, and started planning the project in 2012. “The Bowers-to-Howard project is one of dozens of high-value improvements we have completed in recent years,” said David Hudson, president of Xcel Energy – Texas and New Mexico. “We’re pleased to be partners with regional industries as we make a lasting contribu-tion to job opportunities and economic development for decades to come.” Since July 2014, Xcel Energy has invested $1 billion in new power lines, substations and upgraded power-gener-ating facilities across its Texas-New Mexico service area. Through 2020, that number is expected to exceed $3 billion in improvements. The Power for the Plains initiative is not only improv-ing the reliability and capacity of the region’s high-voltage transmission network, he said, but also is providing op-portunities to tap cheaper sources of power. For example, new transmission connections to the east are saving close to $60 million annually in purchased power costs. Additionally, the improvements are providing path-ways to move wind and solar power generated in this region to new markets. Xcel Energy has added 750 mega-watts of additional wind energy capacity to its regional energy mix since 2015, and plans to add another 140 megawatts of solar energy capacity by the end of 2016.

20 XTRA AUGUST 15, 2016

Damaging high winds, torrential rains and flooding in the Upper Midwest last month snapped power poles, downed hundreds of trees and power lines, and even unearthed a natural gas line. Storms hit Minnesota and western Wisconsin hard on July 5, and they were followed by a serious blow to northern Wis-consin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula on July 12. And if that wasn’t enough, more storms rolled through again on July 21. After the severe thunderstorms wreaked havoc on the system on July 5, Xcel Energy crews restored power to nearly all of the 250,000 customers in Minnesota and Wisconsin who had lost power – mostly in the Twin Cities area. In addition to company crews, more than 1,600 workers from contractors and mutual aid utilities in 17 different states, including Kentucky, Oklahoma and Tennessee, also were in the field to get power restored. Xcel Energy workers were able to restore service to 204,000 customers in less than 24 hours. Power was restored to all customers who were impacted by the storm by noon of the third day after the storms. “Restoring power after a major storm is a challenging and complex situation,” said Troy Browen, director of Control Center and Trouble Operations. “Top priority is always given to situa-tions that threaten public safety, such as live and downed wires. “We prioritize our efforts to help the most people possible,

as quickly as possible,” he added. “The damage from this storm was so extensive that we basically had to rebuild portions of our power grid that was knocked out by the storms.” Xcel Energy had crews prepared in advance of the storms, so they could be deployed quickly to impacted areas. They then worked to assess the damage and began making the necessary repairs to get power restored as quickly and safely as possible. A week later on July 11 and 12, storms took aim at north-ern Wisconsin and part of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Heavy rains pounded the area, followed by strong winds, causing flood-ing and damage to the region’s roads, bridges, and electric and natural gas infrastructure. Some areas received upwards of a foot of rain, and the onslaught of water posed extreme challenges to operations staff at several company generating facilities. “If not for the dedication of our plant operations employ-ees, which were at the plants when the rain started falling, we would have failed dams,” said Bill Zawacki, plant director of Regional Generation. Operators at White River, Superior Falls and Saxon Falls hydro plants worked through the night and into the next day to keep spillway gates open and prevent blockage at the dams from whole trees that were being flushed downriver. Some plants experienced flooding at record heights. Meanwhile, Bay Front Generating Station in Ashland

Crews from 17 states needed to complete Upper Midwest restoration efforts

Storm Response

21 AUGUST 15, 2016

looked as if Lake Superior had come up around it. More than six inches of water was standing around the plant and coming into it in some areas. The company’s Substation group worked with the plant personnel to keep water from the substation control house and breaker room, where the feeders serving the city of Ashland originate. The flooding also caused a four-inch natural gas line to wash out near the town of Odanah on the Bad River Indian Reservation, causing a natural gas outage to the more than 200 homes in the area. Repairs were made and crews completed relights of pilot lights the next day.

But the hits kept coming on July 21, when another severe storm hit Wisconsin and Michigan. Heavy rain, lightning and 75 mph winds caused sustained outages to more than 20,000 cus-tomers. Previously hard-hit and moisture-saturated areas again experienced rain and high winds, causing numerous uprooted trees and taking a toll on the company’s electric system (and in some areas the natural gas system), as well as homes and property. More than 80 percent were restored within 24 hours, but hundreds of trees and poles and entire spans of power lines were down in the already flood-ravaged areas of northern Wisconsin, as well as in the Ironwood, Mich., area. More than 250 crew members worked through extreme heat and humidity

to restore power to customers in these areas. All of these efforts did not go unnoticed. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker called to share his appreciation and gratitude for Xcel Energy’s hard work and commitment to its customers, said Mark Stoering, president of Xcel Energy – Wisconsin and Michigan. “I can’t remember a time when we faced so many challenges, yet received so many positive comments from our customers and communities,” Stoering said. “While unwel-comed, these events highlight what we do best. Everyone demonstrated a high level of dedication to the role that they played during restoration.” In terms of storm-restoration work, Xcel Energy recently re-ceived its fourth major storm-response award in five years from the Edison Electric Institute (Please see related story on page 16). The latest award followed Emergency Recovery Awards for the company’s response to severe thunderstorms that rocked the Twin Cities in 2013 and 2015, and an Assistance Award in 2012 for Xcel Energy’s help following Superstorm Sandy, the deadly hurricane that pummeled the Atlantic seaboard.

Severe ThunderstormsA severe line of thunderstorms affected 250,000 customers in Minnesota and Wisconsin last month, packing lightning, torrential rains and winds in excess of 70 mph. Xcel Energy crews worked dya and night to assess damage and complete the process of repairing damage to the system.

Storm Response

22 XTRA AUGUST 15, 2016

People

Friends We’ll MissConrad Aas91, assistant manager of research, Technology Strategy, General Office, Minneapolis, Minn., died on June 18, 2016. He worked for NSP from 1949 to 1992.

Arnold Anderson82, operator, Wissota Hydro, Chippewa Falls, Wis., died on April 13, 2016. He worked for NSP from 1957 to 1992.

Billy Barker86, Texas, died on May 24, 2016. He worked for SPS from 1951 to 1990.

Gordon Conright87, electrician mechanic, Overhead Construction, Rice Street Service Center, St. Paul, Minn, died on June 13, 2016. He worked for NSP from 1954 to 1986.

Fred Bilstein100, senior storekeeper, San Luis Valley Division, Alamosa, Colo., died on May 1, 2016. He worked for PSCo from 1937 to 1980.

Andrew Daniels82, machine operator, Substa-tion Transmission Services, Minnesota, died on May 5, 2016. He worked for NSP from 1963 to 1990.

John Diebold84, plant equipment operator, Operations, Riverside Plant, Min-neapolis, Minn., died on June 24, 2016. He worked for NSP from 1956 to 1989.

John Durrett78, maintenance working fore-man, Shoshone Hydro Plant, Glenwood Springs, Colo., died on May 10, 2016. He worked for PSCo from 1975 to 1995.

Joanna Easley85, engineering estimator, General Engineering, Amarillo, Texas, died on June 16, 2016. She worked for SPS from 1971 to 1995.

Carl Foster70, manager, Electric Opera-tions, Lipan Distribution Center, Denver, Colo., died on June 7, 2016. He worked for PSCo from 1969 to 2001.

Lenard Grove82, electrician journeyman, Panhandle Division, Guymon, Okla., died on April 28, 2016. He worked for SPS from 1959 to 1995.

Clyde Henning91, troubleman, Metro West Electric Service, Young America Service Center, Young America, Minn., died on June 6, 2016. He worked for NSP from 1949 to 1985.

Gordon Hutson90, meter reader, La Crosse, Wis., died June 17, 2016. He worked for NSP from 1954 to 1988.

Joseph Jackson73, field service specialist IV, Technical Services Building, Denver, Colo., died on June 4, 2016. He worked for PSCo from 1975 to 2003.

Andrew J. Kimbrell91, Texas, died on March 15, 2016. He worked for SPS from 1948 to 1985.

Clifford Morrow94, Texas, died on May 5, 2016. He worked for SPS from 1945 to 1984.

Steven Lang65, meterman, Electric Meter Shop, Materials Distribution Center, Henderson, Colo., died on June 6, 2016. He worked for PSCo from 1977 to 2008.

Duane La Page77, field services supervisor, Metro East Electric Service, Chestnut Service Center, Min-neapolis, Minn., died on May 28, 2016. He worked for NSP from 1965 to 1997.

Reuben Lynum95, maintenance supervisor, Wisconsin Electric Power, Wis-consin, died on May 18, 2016. He worked for NSP from 1949 to 1981.

Rita Mohr69, business process assistant III, Administration Services, Prairie Island Nuclear Plant , Red Wing, Minn., died on April 30, 2016. She worked for NSP from 2007 to 2012.

Wesley Nelson90, station operator, Valmont Station, Boulder, Colo., died on May 21, 2016. He worked for PSCo from 1964 to 1986.

Vernon Olin82, service fitter A, Gas Distribu-tion, Lipan Service Center, Denver, Colo., died on May 15, 2016. He worked for PSCo from 1953 to 1994.

Merlin Olson80, inspector, Customer Service, Centre Pointe, Roseville, Minn., died on May 11, 2016. He worked for NSP from 1956 to 1990.

Richard Olson57, repairman welder, Main-tenance, Riverside Plant, Min-neapolis, Minn., died on May 17, 2016. He worked for NSP from 1977 to 1996.

William Olson87, rate analyst, Revenue Requirements, General Office, Minneapolis, Minn., died on June 1, 2016. He worked for NSP from 1952 to 1988.

Jeff Redfern43, operations support specialist, 1800 Larimer, Denver, Colo., died on June 3, 2016. He worked for Xcel Energy from 2015 until the time of his death.

James Regan86, senior service consultant, Electric Marketing Business Operations, General Office, Min-neapolis, Minn., died on June 24, 2016. He worked for NSP from 1959 to 1988.

Donald Roberts76, energy services unit man-ager, Northern Division, Fort Collins, Colo., died on July 11, 2015. He worked for PSCo from 1969 to 1994.

Jay Robertson43, solutions consultant, IT Account Management, 1800 Larimer , Denver, Colo., died on May 10, 2016. He worked for Xcel Energy from 2007 until the time of his death.

Owen Shelton91, locating technician A, Metro West Mapping, Chestnut Service Center, Minneapolis, Minn., died on March 26, 2016. He worked for NSP from 1955 to 1985.

Fray Smith90, Texas, died on May 11, 2016. He worked for SPS from 1948 to 1986.

Paul Tree68, plant supervisor, Main-tenance, Arapahoe Station, Denver, Colo., died on May 7, 2016. He worked for PSCo from 1977 to 2003.

Benjamin Unger88, district representative, Cannon Falls Office, Faribault, Minn., died on June 24, 2016. He worked for NSP from 1948 to 1987.

Thomas Webster89, tree trimming coordinator, Electric Construction, Min-nesota, died on May 28, 2016. He worked for NSP from 1954 to 1983.

Robert Westom83, sales representative, Cus-tomer Accounting, Minot Service Center, Minot, N.D., died on May 4, 2016. He worked for NSP from 1957 to 1971.

RetiringSam Alfano(scalfano@midco.net), lead reactor operator, Operations, Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant, Monticello, Minn., retired on May 2, 2016. He worked for Xcel Energy for 36 years.

23 AUGUST 15, 2016

Mark Allenlead rigger, Maintenance, Sherco Plant, Becker, Minn., retired on July 8, 2016. He worked for Xcel Energy for 31 years.

Blaise Boser (blaiseboser@gmail.com), lead electrician, Sherco Plant, Becker, Minn., retired on July 18, 2016. He worked for Xcel Energy for 28 years.

Michael Barneslead gas plant operator, Opera-tions, Wescott Gas Plant, Inver Grove Heights, Minn., retired on June 1, 2016. He worked for Xcel Energy for 32 years.

Bob Burchfieldoperational support manager, Power Generation, MDC, Hen-derson, Colo., retired on June 30, 2016. He worked for Xcel Energy for 41 years.

Doug Christenson(dec415@gmail.com), gas and electrical field and operations manager, Gas Operations, White Bear Lake, Minn., retired on June 13, 2016. He worked for Xcel Energy for 42 years.

Karen Coulsonbusiness process assistant, Business Support, Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant, Welch, Minn., retired on May 31, 2016. She worked for Xcel Energy for 27 years.

Craig Dickmeyergas technician specialist, Brainerd Lakes Division, Brainerd Lakes, Minn., retired on July 1, 2016. He worked for Xcel Energy for 35 years.

Kathie Ferguson(bkrgfergie@bresnan.net), planner, Maintenance, Pawnee Station, Brush, Colo., retired April 4, 2016. She worked for Xcel Energy for 27 years.

Terry Ferracinishift supervisor, Operations, Pawnee Plant, Brush, Colo., retired on July 29, 2016. He worked for Xcel Energy for 37 years.

Greg Ford(agford@comcast.net), engineering/design/document services director, Engineering and Construction, General Office, Minneapolis, Minn., retired on July 1, 2016. He worked for Xcel Energy for 19 years.

Dean Forrest(forrestdean54@gmail.com), mechanic specialist, Mainte-nance, Pawnee Plant, Brush, Colo., retired on April 29, 2016. He worked for Xcel Energy for 37 years.

Nancy Glass(nancy.c.glass@comcast.net), principal environmental analyst, Environmental Services, 414 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, Minn., retired on June 30, 2016. She worked for Xcel Energy for 37 years.

David GribbinLine Department, Red Wing Service Center, Red Wing, Minn., retired on July 1, 2016. He worked for Xcel Energy for 34 years.

Ronald Griffith(ronkgriffith@gmail.com), telecommunication technician, Business Systems, Amarillo Operations Center, Amarillo, Texas, retired on June 30, 2016. He worked for Xcel Energy for 39 years.

Raymond Grovergas and electric metering manag-er, Metering, Rice Street Service Center, St. Paul, Minn., retired on July 29, 2016. He worked for Xcel Energy for 42 years.

Michael Halversonsenior operations instructor, Training, Prairie Island Nuclear Plant, Welch, Minn., retired on July 15, 2016. He worked for Xcel Energy for 13 years.

Gloria Hamelsenior meterman, Electric Meter, Arvada Service Center, Arvada, Colo., retired on June 17, 2016. She worked for Xcel Energy for 33 years.

Jeff Hawkeforeman, Substation Construction and Maintenance, La Crosse Ser-vice Center, La Crosse, Wis., re-tired on June 24, 2016. He worked for Xcel Energy for 32 years.

Earle Hayes(ETP01@comcast.net), meter reader thereafter, Meter Reading, Lipan Service Center, Denver, Colo., retired on June 30, 2016. He worked for Xcel Energy for 34 years.

Georgia Houston(gemhouston19@yahoo.com), distribution dispatch, Distribu-tion Operations Control Center, Lubbock, Texas, retired on June 30, 2016. She worked for Xcel Energy for 39 years.

Carl Jansenlead plant equipment operator, Sherco Plant, Becker, Minn., re-tired from Xcel Energy on Aug. 4, 2016. He worked for Xcel Energy for 32 years.

John Joseph(jmj80@juno.com), office lead, Gas Dispatch and Trouble, Rice Street Service Center, St. Paul, Minn., retired on July 29, 2016. He worked for Xcel Energy for 37 years.

Larry Keithahn(L.Keithahn@comcast.net), senior project controls specialist, Transmission Project Controls, Headquarters, Minneapolis, Minn., retired on June 1, 2016. He worked for Xcel Energy for 40 years.

Thomas Linnplant operator A, Operations, Cherokee Station, Denver, Colo., retired on August 1, 2016. He worked for Xcel Energy for 31 years.

Teresa Madden(tsmadden@gmail.com), EVP and CFO, Financial Operations, 401 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, Minn., retired on June 30, 2016. She worked for the company for 36 years.

Larry Marriott(colo.pioneer@msn.com), man-ager, Fleet Operations, Denver, Colo., retired on July 8, 2016. He worked for Xcel Energy for 40 years.

Fred Mayhem(jeannmayh@aol.com), me-chanic, Transportation, Aurora, Colo., retired on July 6, 2016. He worked for Xcel Energy for 40 years.

Bonnie McClish(b.s.mcclish@hotmail.com), ser-vice design, Northwest Design, St. Cloud, Minn., retired on July 8, 2016. She worked for Xcel Energy for 18 years.

Jeff Meier (jeffgmeier@gmail.com), con-struction supervisor II, Substa-tion Construction, Materials Distribution Center, Henderson, Colo., retired July 8, 2016. He worked for Xcel Energy for 38 years.

Dee Miller(deemiller711@gmail.com), field representative, Credit, Chestnut Service Center, Minneapolis, Minn., retired on July 11, 2016. She worked for Xcel Energy for 26 years.

Judy Payneprincipal financial accountant, Regulatory Accounting, 1800 Larimer, Denver, Colo., retired on May 31, 2016. She worked for Xcel Energy for 22 years.

Lori Pearsonsenior solutions consultant, Busi-ness Systems, 414 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, Minn., retired on Aug. 31, 2016. She worked for Xcel Energy for 35 years.

Deb Robertsprincipal consultant, Reliability and Work Management, 1800 Larimer, Denver, Colo., retired on July 7, 2016. She worked for Xcel Energy for 34 years.

Floyd Todd(fdtodd33@gmail.com), shift supervisor, Jones Station, Lub-bock, Texas, retired on July 1, 2016. He worked for Xcel Energy for 45 years.

Continuing EducationSheila Parkerdata management specialist, HR Operations, 1800 Larimer, Denver, Colo., received a Bachelor of Arts degree (double major) in both HR Management and in Business Administration, May 1, 2016, from Ashford University in San Diego, Calif.

© 2016 Xcel Energy Inc.

150 WAYS TO SAVE ON ENERGY AND MONEY? YOU’D THINK THE BOX

WOULD BE BIGGER.

At Xcel Energy, we have tons of ways to help you conserve energy and save a little money. Some literally as easy as changing a light bulb. And don’t think you can’t make a difference. People just like you have helped us save enough energy to avoid building 18 power plants across all our serviced states. So, get saving. For details, visit xcelenergy.com.

414 Nicollet Mall, 401-7Minneapolis, MN 55401xcelenergy.com

XTRAPublished monthly by Xcel EnergyKevin Graham, Editor1800 Larimer Street, 16th FloorDenver, CO 80202Phone: 303-294-2417Fax: 303-294-2968email: Kevin.Graham@xcelenergy.com

Contributors: Kelly Stone Cramer, Sarah Gedrose, Tim Dicks, JD Bergquist, Derek Wolden, Al Lohman and Liz Wolf Green

Design: Steve Berry

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