Rate Matters

Except to the extent noted below, the circumstances set forth in Note 12 to the consolidated financial statements included in Xcel Energy Inc.’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2016, appropriately represent, in all material respects, the current status of other rate matters, and are incorporated herein by reference.

NSP-Minnesota

Pending Regulatory Proceeding — Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC)

Minnesota 2016 Multi-Year Electric Rate Case — In November 2015, NSP-Minnesota filed a three-year electric rate case with the MPUC. The rate case is based on a requested return on equity (ROE) of 10.0 percent and a 52.50 percent equity ratio. In December 2015, the MPUC approved interim rates for 2016. The request is detailed in the table below:



Request (Millions of Dollars)	2016			2017			2018
Rate request	$	194.6		$	52.1		$	50.4
Increase percentage	6.4		%	1.7		%	1.7		%
Interim request	$	163.7		$	44.9		N/A
Rate base	$	7,800		$	7,700		$	7,700

Settlement Agreement

In August 2016, NSP-Minnesota and various parties reached a settlement which resolves all revenue requirement issues in dispute. The settlement agreement requires the approval of the MPUC.

Key terms of the settlement are listed below:


•	Four-year period covering 2016-2019;


•	Annual sales true-up;


•	ROE of 9.2 percent and an equity ratio of 52.5 percent;


•	Nuclear related costs will not be considered provisional;


•	Continued use of all existing riders, however no new riders may be utilized during the four-year term;


•	Deferral of incremental 2016 property tax expense above a fixed threshold to 2018 and 2019;


•	Four-year stay out provision for rate cases;


•	Property tax true-up mechanism for 2017-2019; and


•	Capital expenditure true-up mechanism for 2016-2019.



(Millions of Dollars, incremental)	2016		2017		2018		2019			Total
Settlement revenues	$	74.99	$	59.86	$	—	$	50.12		$	184.97
NSP-Minnesota’s sales true-up	59.95		—		—		(0.20		)	59.75
Total rate impact	$	134.94	$	59.86	$	—	$	49.92		$	244.72

In March 2017, the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) recommended that the MPUC approve the settlement as it will contribute to just and reasonable rates and that no objections to the settlement are sufficient to merit rejection. The ALJ also provided recommendations for a majority of the revenue requirement issues in the event the MPUC decides to reject the settlement.

The MPUC is anticipated to hold deliberations on the rate case in May 2017 and issue an order in June 2017.

PSCo

Recently Concluded Regulatory Proceeding — Colorado Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)

Annual Electric Earnings Test — PSCo must share with customers earnings that exceed the authorized ROE of 9.83 percent for 2015 through 2017, as part of an annual earnings test. The 2016 earnings test did not result in a material customer refund obligation as of Dec. 31, 2016. PSCo filed its 2016 earnings test with the CPUC in April 2017. The final sharing obligation will be based on the CPUC approved tariff and could vary from the current estimate.

SPS

Pending Regulatory Proceedings — Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT)

Appeal of the Texas 2015 Electric Rate Case Decision — SPS had requested an overall retail electric revenue rate increase of $42.1 million. In 2015, the PUCT approved an overall rate decrease of approximately $4.0 million, net of rate case expenses. In April 2016, SPS filed an appeal, with the Texas State District Court, of the PUCT’s order that had denied SPS’ request for rehearing on certain items in SPS’ Texas 2015 electric rate case related to capital structure, incentive compensation and wholesale load reductions. On March 6, 2017, the Travis County District Court denied SPS’s appeal. On April 4, 2017, SPS appealed the District Court’s decision to the Court of Appeals.

Texas 2016 Electric Rate Case — In February 2016, SPS filed a retail electric rate case in Texas requesting an overall increase in annual base rate revenue of approximately $71.9 million, or 14.4 percent. The filing is based on a historic test year ended Sept. 30, 2015, a requested ROE of 10.25 percent, an electric rate base of approximately $1.7 billion, and an equity ratio of 53.97 percent. In September 2016, SPS revised its requested rate increase to $61.5 million, along with recovery of rate case expenses, for an overall revised request of $65.5 million.

In December 2016, SPS reached a settlement that resolves all issues in the rate case. The total estimated rate impact is $51.8 million. The final rates established in the case are effective retroactive to July 20, 2016. In December 2016, an ALJ approved interim rates, effective as of Dec. 10, 2016. In the fourth quarter of 2016, SPS deferred certain costs associated with this rate case. In January 2017, the PUCT approved the settlement and no refund of interim rates was necessary. In April 2017, SPS filed a surcharge to recover $13.8 million for the additional revenue recovered by applying the final rates to customer billing units for the period of July 20, 2016 through Dec. 9, 2016.

Texas 2016 Transmission Cost Recovery Factor (TCRF) Application — In February 2017, SPS filed with the PUCT to recover additional annual revenue of approximately $16.1 million through its TCRF, or 1.8 percent. The filing is based upon capital transmission additions made during 2016. SPS expects a PUCT decision and implementation of TCRF rates by mid-2017.

Pending Regulatory Proceeding — New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (NMPRC)

New Mexico 2016 Electric Rate Case — In November 2016, SPS filed an electric rate case with the NMPRC seeking an increase in base rates of approximately $41.4 million, representing a total revenue increase of approximately 10.9 percent. The rate filing is based on a requested ROE of 10.1 percent, an equity ratio of 53.97 percent, an electric rate base of approximately $832 million and a future test year ending June 30, 2018.

SPS has excluded fuel and purchased power costs from base rates. This base rate case also takes into account the decline in sales of 380 MW in 2017 from certain wholesale customers and seeks to adjust the service life of SPS’ Tolk power plant to a remaining life through 2030 based on the investments to provide cooling water and the risks of investments in additional environmental controls.

The major components of the requested rate increase are summarized below:



(Millions of Dollars)	Request
Capital expenditures	$	20.1
Allocator changes, including wholesale load reductions	11.5
Transmission expense, net of revenue, including charges paid to Southwest Power Pool, Inc. (SPP) for construction of regionally shared transmission projects	4.7
Depreciation, including adjustment of service life for the Tolk generating station	3.6
Rate case expenses	1.1
Other, net	0.4
Requested rate increase	$	41.4

On April 10, 2017, the hearing examiner determined that SPS’ rate filing was deficient, and recommended the NMPRC extend the procedural schedule by one month and restart the suspension period once it is determined that the deficiencies are resolved. On April 19, 2017, the NMPRC ruled to dismiss SPS’ rate case and required SPS to refile a future test year rate case. SPS filed a motion for reconsideration on April 21, 2017 and the NMPRC is expected to consider that motion on May 10, 2017.

Pending Regulatory Proceedings — Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)

Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. (MISO) ROE Complaints/ROE Adder — In November 2013, a group of customers filed a complaint at the FERC against MISO transmission owners (TOs), including NSP-Minnesota and NSP-Wisconsin. The complaint argued for a reduction in the ROE in transmission formula rates in the MISO region from 12.38 percent to 9.15 percent, a prohibition on capital structures in excess of 50 percent equity, and the removal of ROE adders (including those for Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) membership and for being an independent transmission company), effective Nov. 12, 2013.

In December 2015, an ALJ recommended the FERC approve a ROE of 10.32 percent using a FERC ROE methodology adopted in June 2014, which the FERC upheld in an order issued in September 2016. This ROE is applicable for the 15 month refund period from Nov. 12, 2013 to Feb. 11, 2015, and prospectively from the date of the FERC order. The total prospective ROE is 10.82 percent, which includes a 50 basis point adder for RTO membership.

In February 2015, a second complaint seeking to reduce the MISO ROE from 12.38 percent to 8.67 percent prior to any adder was filed with the FERC, resulting in a second period of potential refund from Feb. 12, 2015 to May 11, 2016. The MPUC, the North Dakota Public Service Commission (NDPSC), the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission and the Minnesota Department of Commerce joined a joint complainant/intervenor initial brief recommending an ROE of approximately 8.81 percent. FERC staff recommended a ROE of 8.78 percent. The MISO TOs recommended a ROE of 10.92 percent. In June 2016, the ALJ recommended a ROE of 9.7 percent, the midpoint of the upper half of the discounted cash flow (DCF) range, applying the June 2014 FERC ROE methodology. A decision was expected later in 2017, but could be delayed by the lack of a quorum at the FERC.

On April 14, 2017 the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated and remanded the June 2014 FERC decision, previously made in a New England ROE case. The court decision found that the FERC in that case had not established that the prior ROE was unjust and unreasonable, and that the FERC also failed to adequately support the newly approved ROE. The New England ROE ruling was then the basis for the ROE methodology used in the MISO complaint cases. The court found that the ROE methodology used in the New England ROE case was inadequate because it relied on approaches other than the DCF model. The impact of this court decision on the pending MISO complaint cases is uncertain.

As of March 2017, NSP-Minnesota has recognized a current liability for the Nov. 12, 2013 to Feb. 11, 2015 complaint period based on the 10.32 percent ROE provided in the FERC order. This liability is net of refunds processed during the first quarter of 2017. NSP-Minnesota has also recognized a current liability representing the best estimate of the final ROE for the Feb. 12, 2015 to May 11, 2016 complaint period.

Southwest Power Pool , Inc. (SPP) Open Access Transmission Tariff (OATT) Upgrade Costs — Under the SPP OATT, costs of participant-funded, or “sponsored,” transmission upgrades may be recovered from other SPP customers whose transmission service depends on capacity enabled by the upgrade. The SPP OATT has allowed SPP to collect charges since 2008, but SPP had not been charging its customers for these upgrades.

In April 2016, SPP filed a request with the FERC for a waiver that would allow SPP to recover the charges not billed since 2008. The FERC approved the request in July 2016. SPS and certain other parties requested rehearing of the FERC order. In November 2016, SPP billed SPS a net amount, for the period from 2008 through August 2016, of $12.8 million for these charges, to be paid over a five-year period commencing November 2016. In October 2016, SPS filed applications for deferred accounting and future recovery of related costs in Texas and New Mexico. In December 2016, SPS’ New Mexico application was consolidated with its base rate case and in March 2017, SPS withdrew its Texas application and will address the issue in its next base rate case. SPS anticipates these SPP charges authorized by FERC will be recoverable through regulatory mechanisms.