Xcel Energy Named #1 Wind Energy Provider In America For 12th Consecutive Year

Xcel Energy produces a lot of wind energy.  Probably more than you think.

The company was named by the American Energy Association as the country's top utility wind energy provider for the 12th consecutive year.

Xcel more than doubled the wind properties it owns when it bought the Pleasant Valley Wind Farm in Minnesota and Border Wind Farm in North Dakota in 2015.  Xcel also purchases energy from new wind farms in Colorado and New Mexico.  The moves increased the company's wind capacity by 850 megawatts, or 15 percent company wide in 2015.

Xcel will add another 400 megawatts of wind energy to it's system in 2016 by buying energy from the Odell Wind Farm in Minnesota and by owning the soon to be completed Courtenay Wind Farm in North Dakota.

Xcel has saved customers more than $60 million in fuel costs through the end of last year and has improved wind forecasting accuracy by nearly 34 percent.

In October of last year Xcel set a company record in Colorado by providing more than 54 percent of customer's energy for 24 hours.