Yesterday, Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reporter Carissa Wyant reported that New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo was investigating the plans of Xcel Energy and four other energy companies to construct new coal-fired power plants.

New York state’s Andrew Cuomo is in the process of investigating five energy companies, including Minneapolis-based Xcel (NYSE: XEL) in order to determine if the companies plans to create coal-fired power plants present an undisclosed financial risk to investors. Coal-fired plants emit carbon dioxide, a pollutant which has been linked to global warming. Cuomo’s office is concerned that if the government tightens its regulations on the plants, investors could lose money.

The other four companies are AES Corp., Dominion Resources Inc., Dynegy Inc., and Peabody Energy Corp. The Big Stone II coal-fired plant would be owned by Ottertail Power, which is not part of the investigation.