By Tom Kleckner

Xcel Energy CEO Ben Fowke said last week that executives are sharpening their pencils after the company failed to meet analysts’ second-quarter expectations.

“We have taken action to reduce [operations and maintenance] expenses,” Fowke told analysts Aug. 3. “As a result, we are confident in our ability to deliver ongoing earnings solidly within our 2016 guidance range” of $2.12 to $2.27/share.

Xcel reported second-quarter earnings of $196.8 million ($0.39/share), compared with $197 million ($0.39/share) a year ago. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were expecting a penny more ($0.40/share).

Sales were $2.5 billion, lower than the $2.53 billion forecast because of what the company called “some unfavorable weather.” Xcel’s sales for the same period last year were $2.52 billion.

Xcel reported several positive regulatory developments in the eight states in which it operates and touted the proposed 600-MW Rush Creek wind farm in Colorado as an affordable step toward decarbonizing its generating fleet.

“You basically are buying wind at a price point less than you can lock in natural gas reserves,” Fowke said. “So, that’s a pretty compelling story for customers and, I think, investors alike.”

According to the American Wind Energy Association, Xcel is the country’s top-ranked utility wind provider, with 6,545 MW of wind capacity owned or under contract as of the end of 2015. The company has reduced coal’s share of its fuel mix from 56% to 43% since 2005, while wind increased from 3% to 17%.

Fowke said the company expects to add more wind.

“MISO is a big footprint and so, I mean, I certainly think from a reliability standpoint … you can handle more wind … and it’s pretty economically compelling right now,” he said, according to a transcript by Seeking Alpha. “In Colorado, where we’re not part of an RTO, we have experienced wind as high as I think 65% of our load in any particular time, and we’ve managed to integrate it very well. And part of that is we’ve developed some of the most sophisticated wind forecasting software in the business, and it’s helping us be more efficient with wind. So [there are] very little curtailments in our wind portfolio; we’re pretty proud of that.”

The company’s shares closed Friday at $42.66, down $1.07 (2.51%) since the earnings announcement.

Minneapolis-based Xcel has operations in the Dakotas, New Mexico, Texas, Wisconsin and Michigan.