Xcel Energy Plans $53M Project In SE New Mexico

New transmission line and substation to support growing industrial demand

Roswell, NM - Recently Xcel Energy filed an application with the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission to build a $53M transmission line and substation in Eddy and Lea counties, New Mexico, to meet growing need for electricity in the booming energy and mining sectors of southeastern New Mexico.

The proposed Potash Junction-to-Roadrunner 230-kilovolt transmission line project consists of 40 miles of new line between the new Roadrunner Substation and the existing Potash Junction Substation. Roadrunner will be located about 45 miles southeast of Carlsbad. Potash Junction is located approximately 15 miles northeast of Carlsbad. This project will be a key link in the company’s expanding transmission network in the far southeastern corner of the state.

“The load growth in this area is unprecedented, and much of it is taking place in a remote area near the Texas state line with limited power delivery infrastructure,” said David Hudson, president and CEO of Southwestern Public Service Company, an Xcel Energy company. “We are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in New Mexico alone to prepare this area for the growth to come.”

The new line will be constructed to a 345-kilovolt capacity, but initially operated at 230 kilovolts. Structures will be two-pole steel H-frames ranging from 80 to 140 feet tall. The projected in-service date is 2015.

The Potash Junction-Roadrunner project is one of several key capital investments Xcel Energy is making in its New Mexico-Texas service area. In addition to new transmission lines, which act as the “highways” of the power grid, the company is building more than 200 miles of distribution feeder lines in Eddy and Lea counties that will take power directly to new customers.

More information on this and other transmission projects can be found a www.powerfortheplains.com, where Xcel Energy provides details on its major New Mexico and Texas capital investment projects.

Xcel Energy’s Southwestern Public Service Company subsidiary serves 14 communities in eastern and southeastern New Mexico and 80 communities in the Panhandle and South Plains of Texas. The company’s transmission system reaches even farther, taking in the Oklahoma Panhandle and portions of southwestern Kansas.