Related Party Transactions

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

13.	Related Party Transactions

Xcel Energy Services Inc. provides management, administrative and other services for the subsidiaries of Xcel Energy, including NSP-Wisconsin. The services are provided and billed to each subsidiary in accordance with service agreements executed by each subsidiary. NSP-Wisconsin uses services provided by Xcel Energy Services Inc. whenever possible. Costs are charged directly to the subsidiary and are allocated if they cannot be directly assigned.

The electric production and transmission costs of the entire NSP system are shared by NSP-Minnesota and NSP-Wisconsin. The Interchange Agreement provides for the sharing of all costs of generation and transmission facilities of the system, including capital costs.

The table below contains significant affiliate transactions among the companies and related parties including billings under the Interchange Agreement for the years ended Dec. 31:

(Thousands of Dollars)	2011		2010		2009
Operating revenues:
Electric	$	124,334	$	116,312	$	109,251
Operating expenses:
Purchased power		399,649		377,518		353,248
Transmission expense		40,870		38,558		35,775
Natural gas purchased for resale		98		163		309
Other operating expenses - paid to Xcel Energy Services Inc.		54,885		52,826		48,533
Interest expense		48		56		66

Accounts receivable and payable with affiliates at Dec. 31 were:

	2011				2010
	Accounts		Accounts		Accounts		Accounts
(Thousands of Dollars)	Receivable		Payable		Receivable		Payable
NSP-Minnesota	$	-	$	18,003	$	-	$	26,864
PSCo		-		112		-		164
SPS		-		-		2		-
Other subsidiaries of Xcel Energy Inc.		-		5,170		1		9,292
	$	-	$	23,285	$	3	$	36,320

During 2010, NSP-Wisconsin obtained short-term borrowings from NSP-Minnesota at NSP-Minnesota's average daily interest rate, including the cost of NSP-Minnesota's compensating balance requirements. The borrowing arrangement terminated in the first quarter 2011. At Dec. 31, 2010, NSP-Wisconsin had notes payable outstanding to NSP-Minnesota in the amount of $37.0 million. See Note 4 for further discussion.

Clearwater Investments Inc., an NSP-Wisconsin subsidiary, also had notes payable outstanding of $0.5 million and $0.6 million as of Dec. 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively, to Xcel Energy Inc.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for related party transactions, including the nature of the relationship(s), a description of the transactions, the amount of the transactions, the effects of any change in the method of establishing the terms of the transaction from the previous period, stated interest rate, expiration date, terms and manner of settlement per the agreement with the related party, and amounts due to or from related parties. If the entity and one or more other entities are under common ownership or management control and this control affects the operating results or financial position, disclosure includes the nature of the control relationship even if there are no transactions between the entities. Disclosure may also include the aggregate amount of current and deferred tax expense for each statement of earnings presented where the entity is a member of a group that files a consolidated tax return, the amount of any tax related balances due to or from affiliates as of the date of each statement of financial position presented, the principal provisions of the method by which the consolidated amount of current and deferred tax expense is allocated to the members of the group and the nature and effect of any changes in that method. Examples of related party transactions include transactions between (a) a parent company and its subsidiary; (b) subsidiaries of a common parent; (c) and entity and its principal owners; and (d) affiliates.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

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Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

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-Number 210

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Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

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-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

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Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

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Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

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Reference 8: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

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+ Details