NEW YORK--Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the first-ever binding and enforceable agreement requiring a major national energy company to disclose the financial risks that climate change poses to its investors.
Cuomo’s agreement with Xcel Energy comes as many power companies, including Xcel, are investing in new coal-burning power generation that will significantly contribute to global warming emissions.
The agreement includes binding and enforceable provisions that require Xcel to provide detailed disclosure of climate change and associated risks in its “Form 10-K” filings, the annual summary report on a company’s performance required by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) to inform investors. These required disclosures include an analysis of financial risks from climate change related to:
--present and probable future climate change regulation and legislation;
--climate-change related litigation; and
--physical impacts of climate change.
Additionally, the agreement commits Xcel to a broad array of climate change disclosures, including:
--current carbon emissions;
--projected increases in carbon emissions from planned coal-fired power plants;
--company strategies for reducing, offsetting, limiting, or otherwise managing its global warming pollution emissions and expected global warming emissions reductions from these actions; and
--corporate governance actions related to climate change, including whether environmental performance is incorporated into officer compensation.
Substantial financial risks for energy companies that emit large quantities of carbon dioxide are being created by a number of new or likely regulatory efforts, such as New York’s newly adopted regional carbon regulations for power plants, and other future regulatory efforts, including federal regulation, Congressional action, and climate-change related litigation. These risks are especially exacerbated for power companies that are building new coal-burning power plants or other large new sources of global warming pollution emissions. Knowledge of these risks is important for investors to make informed financial decisions.
Xcel Energy provides electricity and natural gas to commercial and residential customers in eight Midwestern and Western States. Its annual revenues are more than $9 billion. In 2006, Xcel was among the top ten largest emitters of global warming pollution by utilities in the United States. Xcel is building a new 750 megawatt, coal-fired power plant in Pueblo, Colorado.
New York State Office of the Attorney General
www.oag.state.ny.us
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