BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF COLORADO

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SEMI-ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT OF PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY OF COLORADO FOR THE CHEROKEE 2x1 COMBINED CYCLE PLANT PROJECT

) ) Proceeding No. 11A-609E ) )

Semi-Annual Progress Report

Cherokee 2x1 Combined Cycle Plant

April 6, 2015

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INTRODUCTION

The Commission has authorized Public Service Company of Colorado (“Public

Service”) to proceed with the completion of specific components of its Clean Air Clean

Jobs Act (“CACJA”) compliance plan, which the Commission approved in Proceeding

No. 10M-245E. This report is the sixth semi-annual status report on the Cherokee 2 X 1

Combined Cycle power plant (“Cherokee 2X1 CC”) construction and describes the

status of the project as of December 31, 2014.

OVERALL PROJECT STATUS

Currently the Cherokee 2x1 CC plant construction is approximately 87%

complete. All major powerblock equipment has been erected including combustion

turbine generators, steam turbine generator, heat recovery steam generators

(“HRSG’s”) and generator step up (“GSU”) transformers. Several other key activities

were completed during this reporting period as well.

The 2x1 CC power plant design-build contract (“DBC”) awarded to Kiewit is

progressing on schedule. Kiewit performed engineering, procurement and construction

activities throughout this reporting period. Engineering is now 100% complete,

procurement of engineered equipment is 100% complete, and construction is

approximately 87% complete. In addition to setting the major powerblock equipment

mentioned above, Kiewit completed erection of the steam turbine building, completed

erection and piping for the CTG’s, completed the lube oil flushes for the CTG’s,

completed erection and hydrotesting of the HRSG’s, set the boiler feed pumps,

completed the major piping systems, pulled the majority of electrical cable, and

continued terminating electrical cable. The natural gas supply line to the new site has

been completed and blown clean. The buildings have been completed with heating,

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ventilation and air conditioning (“HVAC”), lighting and electrical service. Nooter/Eriksen

completed all deliveries of equipment and materials for the HRSG supply contract, and

General Electric (“GE”) completed deliveries of miscellaneous equipment and materials

for the combustion turbine generators (“CTG’s”) supply contract and the replacement

generator for the Steam Turbine Generator (“STG”).

Startup activities commenced during this reporting period. Power was backfed

into the Unit 5 GSU on November 15, 2014 allowing equipment and system checkout to

commence. The Distributed Control System (“DCS”) was energized on temporary power

in November as well, allowing checkout of control loops to begin. All electrical gear was

checked out and energized in early December and the instrument air compressors were

checked out and energized.

Progress photos of the construction are included as Attachment 1 of this report.

PROJECT FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE

In our application in Proceeding No. 11A-609E, we provided a cost estimate for

the project of $534.518 million, which we subsequently revised to $531.525 million. In

this report, we use the revised $531.525 million estimate as our “Baseline Budget”.

Attachment 2 is the Baseline Budget. Attachment 3 converts the Baseline Budget into a

format consistent with the Company’s systems for managing and tracking the project.

The Company tracks costs by contracts and purchase orders.

The term “Current Estimate” is the current expected completion cost for each

planned contract. As contracts are awarded, the current estimate includes the actual

contract value plus an allowance for changes over the contract lifecycle. The current

estimate also includes forecasted costs not yet under contract. The term “spent to date”

means the actual costs incurred through December 31, 2014.

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We currently have 98% of the total project direct cost under contract. The

budgets shown in Attachment 3 are divided into direct costs and indirect costs. The

direct cost contracts and purchase orders account for approximately 93% of the total

project costs. The indirect costs account for 7% of the total project costs. As of

December 31, 2014, we have spent $471.197 million or 88.7% of the Baseline Budget

of $531.525 million.

PROJECTED VS. ACTUAL CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULE

The Level 2 projected construction schedule was included with the CPCN. The

schedule showed a completion in December 2015 for the 2x1 CC power plant. The

schedule has been updated to show actual progress through December 31, 2014,

including a comparison of projected versus actual progress. The activities to date have

been completed ahead of the original baseline, and the overall project is currently

tracking to meet the required date of December 2015. A current Level 2 Critical Path

Schedule is included as Attachment 4.

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ATTACHMENTS

1. Progress Photos 2. CPCN Settlement Amount and Baseline Cost Estimate 3. Summary Cost Estimate and Spent to Date amounts 4. Project Schedule

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Attachment 1 - Project Photos Steam Turbine Building Siding Complete

Installing Fuel Gas Line into new Plant

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Steam Turbine Generator Sound Enclosure

Tanks Insulation Complete

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Setting up for Boiler Hydrotest

Site View

ATTACHMENT 2. Baseline Cost Estimate

ATTACHMENT 3. Summary Cost Estimate and Spend to Date Report

ATTACHMENT 4. Project Schedule

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