Xcel Energy; Colorado utility veteran Kelly: Xcel Energy's new CEO.

• Position: CORPORATE PROFILE: SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Xcel Energy's Richard Kelly rolled up his sleeves on July 1 of this year, to continue building the core business of the utility as the company's newest CEO. It is work that he and his predecessor, Wayne Brunetti, began two years ago--shifting away from a deregulated business model back to its roots.

"We go to work each day and provide our customers with safe, reliable and low-cost energy," Kelly said.

Despite the apparent simplicity of a utility's service, Kelly knows that the industry has become highly complex. "In addition to reliable service and reasonably priced energy, customers want more environmentally friendly alternatives and they want information about how they can spend their energy dollars wisely," Kelly noted. "Our job now is to marshal diverse and emerging technologies and mesh them with our traditional functions."

Kelly began full-time work with Public Service Company of Colorado in 1968 in the auditing department, after interning in the meter-reading department during college. He held numerous positions with progressive responsibility before becoming senior vice president of finance in 1990; in 2003, Brunetti named Kelly president and chief operating officer.

"My background in finance has served me well, particularly as we transition back from a competitive, deregulated environment to focusing on the regulated portion of the business," Kelly said. "It also prepared me well for an evolution of the traditional utility service that now includes new and exciting products and services."

Kelly believes that Xcel Energy's customers want the utility to be an environmental leader. It is the second-largest provider of wind energy in the nation, with designs on the number one slot. Xcel Energy has plans to add more than 125 megawatts of wind power capacity to its Colorado system by the end of 2006. The company has invested more than $210 million in voluntary emission reductions programs in Colorado...