WIND DEALS BEAT NAT GAS

Xcel CEO: Wind energy cheaper than natural gas

October 23, 2015 (Bloomberg News via Finance & Commerce)

“Xcel Energy Inc., the biggest U.S. provider of wind power, expects long-term contracts for the technology to beat the cost of natural gas, another sign of the rapid transformation of the power market…[Xcel] is receiving bids for 20-year power-purchase agreements at about $25 a megawatt-hour for wind energy, Chief Executive Officer Ben Fowke said…While gas prices are close to historic lows, he doesn’t see them remaining there forever, and Xcel expects prices for electricity from the fossil fuel to be closer to $32 a megawatt- hour over the same period…Fowke has plans to add 1,600 megawatts of wind energy over the next 15 years or so, partly to replace output from at least two coal-fired plants that are being retired. He also expects to exceed requirements in its largest states, Minnesota and Colorado, to get 30 percent of Xcel’s power from renewable resources…” click here for more

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