Xcel Energy to Purchase Calpine Plants

Xcel Energy and Calpine Corporation announced that Public Service Company of Colorado, an Xcel Energy company, will purchase two of Calpine’s power plants near Denver. The plants currently provide electricity to the utility under power purchase agreements.

The $739 million acquisition stems from an offer by Calpine into a competitive bid process that was part of Xcel Energy’s 2007 Colorado Resource Plan, and was the least cost option among many bids for needed generating resources. The agreement is dependent on regulatory agency approval.

The plants to be purchased are the 621-megawatt Rocky Mountain Energy Center, located near Hudson, Colo., which began commercial operation in 2004 and produces electricity using efficient combined-cycle technology, and the 310-megawatt simple-cycle Blue Spruce Energy Center, located in Aurora, Colo., which began operation in 2003. The plants can collectively provide enough electricity to meet the needs of approximately 700,000 Colorado households.

"This agreement will be good for our customers because these assets, which are already an integral part of our system, will continue to provide reliable and reasonably priced energy for many years," said David Eves, president and CEO of Public Service Company of Colorado, an Xcel Energy company. "Knowing that these plants will be part of our long-term generation mix will also help us to more effectively manage system reliability as we strive to meet the state’s newly increased renewable energy standard."

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