Xcel Energy Names Meridium as one of New Utility Innovations Initiatives at DistribuTECH 2006

2/8/2006

Innovative partnership captures Project of the Year Award

MINNEAPOLIS— Xcel Energy (NYSE: XEL) revealed its most recent Utility Innovations (UI) projects today at DistribuTECH 2006 in Tampa, Fla. The company also received the T&D Automation Project of the Year award from conference host Pennwell Corporation for one of the most innovative electric power transmission and distribution technology implementations in 2005.     

In 2004, Xcel Energy brought together leading technology companies to leverage the creativity, knowledge and skills of each firm to develop innovations that improve customer service and operational efficiency. Since that time, the Utility Innovations program has evolved as new partners joined Xcel Energy to work on a new series of initiatives.

“Utility Innovations is proving that truly successful innovation can be achieved through collaboration in a utility environment,” said Xcel Energy Vice President and Chief Information Officer Ray Gogel. “The evolution of the partnership has given Utility Innovations the flexibility to seamlessly continue with initiatives that meet changing business goals. The program is putting research and development into the business model of the utility industry. And that is creating opportunities for improved reliability, customer satisfaction and other value propositions for our customers.” 

In addition to Meridium, joining Xcel Energy in 2005 and 2006 are:

• IBM (NYSE: IBM), the provider of deep industry expertise, broad-base technology and software solutions, as well as project management and systems integration;
• Indus (NASDAQ: IINT), the provider of Indus Asset Suite, the company’s work management and supply chain system, and also Indus Service Suite, which provides resource optimization, scheduling and mobility solutions;
• Itron (NASDAQ: ITRI), the provider of meters and meter reading automation in Xcel Energy, Colorado, as well as the provider of software applications in meter data management, billing and asset management areas.
• Lennar Homes (NYSE: LEN), the provider of residential development land design and C.A.D. drawings, & through Nolte Engineering, provides civil engineering services for integration of technology and management systems.
• SmartSignal, the leader in equipment-performance-improvement solutions providing real-time insights into equipment health at Xcel Energy.
• The U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the nation's primary laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development.

For the UI initiative, Meridium and SmartSignal teamed up to collaborate on a predictive maintenance program for power plants that uses analytics to predict incidents before they occur. The latest UI projects also align information technology investments with targeted business improvement objectives in the areas of renewable energy, communications and automated design:

• A Web portal for builders and developers that reduces project design time from 20 weeks to two weeks;
• A partnership with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory that provides more effective placements of solar power to have a more significant impact on a given service territory.
• A communications architecture model that supports Advanced Meter Management and evaluates technologies such as WiFi, WiMax and BPL.

“Xcel Energy already has realized $2.25 million in savings through the implementation of a UI workforce optimization initiative,” said Utility Innovations Executive Director Corey Hessen, P.E. “It’s the strength of these kind of results that has lead to the creation of Utility Innovations as an Xcel Energy program that seeks new solutions for higher operational performance.”

For more information about Utility Innovations and the partners, please visit www.xcelenergy.com and click on the Utility Innovations link, located in Newsroom.

About Xcel Energy

Xcel Energy is a major U.S. electricity and natural gas company, with operations in 10 Western and Midwestern states. Xcel Energy provides a comprehensive portfolio of energy-related products and services to 3.3 million electricity customers and 1.8 million natural gas customers through its regulated operating companies. In terms of customers, it is the fourth-largest combination natural gas and electricity company in the nation. Company headquarters are located in Minneapolis. More information is available at www.xcelenergy.com