Item 8.01. Other Events.

On June 12, 2008, Southwestern Public Service Company (SPS), a New Mexico corporation, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Xcel Energy Inc., filed a rate case with Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT), seeking an annual rate increase of approximately $61.3 million, or approximately 5.9 percent. Base revenues are proposed to increase by $94.4 million, while fuel and purchased power revenue will decline by $33.1 million, primarily due to fuel savings from the Lea Power Partners LLC (LPP) purchase power agreement.

The rate filing is based on a 2007 test-year adjusted for known and measurable changes, a requested ROE of 11.25 percent, an electric rate base of $989.4 million and an equity ratio of 51.0 percent. The interim rates of $18 million for costs associated with the LPP power purchase agreement went into effect in September 2008.

On Jan. 30, 2009, SPS filed a motion to implement interim rates no earlier than Feb. 1, 2009 for consumption occurring on or after that date. The motion states that the parties are very near to reaching a settlement agreement and as a result, have agreed to an interim base rate increase of $57.4 million. The Administrative Law Judge issued an order approving the motion on Jan. 30, 2009. Parties are working on final details of a settlement and SPS expects that a settlement agreement will be filed with the PUCT in early February and that the PUCT will rule on the settlement late in the first quarter or early in the second quarter of 2009.

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