Minneapolis – Xcel Energy Inc., the owner of utilities in Minneapolis and Denver, promoted President Richard C. Kelly to replace Wayne Brunetti, who will retire as chief executive on July 1.
Brunetti, 62, will remain chairman until December, Minneapolis-based Xcel said today in a statement. Kelly, 58, began his career with a predecessor to Xcel, Public Service Co. of Colorado, in 1968.
Brunetti promoted Kelly to the No. 2 post at Xcel in October 2003, assigning him to focus on the company’s utility businesses.
As chief financial officer in 2002 and 2003, Kelly led Xcel’s retreat from NRG Energy Inc., an insolvent power-generation subsidiary. NRG exited bankruptcy as a separate, publicly traded company in December 2003.
Xcel supplies power to 3.2 million homes and businesses in 10 U.S. states. It also has 1.7 million natural-gas customers.
Shares of Xcel fell 8 cents to $19.37 at 2:03 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock still has climbed 15 percent in the past year.
