Utility completes $24M transmission project in New Mexico

Posted: Thursday, January 25, 2018 1:43 am | Updated: 2:02 am, Thu Jan 25, 2018.

ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) — Xcel Energy says it has completed a $24 million transmission project that will boost the capacity and reliability of the system that powers one eastern New Mexico city.

Utility officials say the Roswell project is part of a larger, region-wide effort to expand and modernize Xcel's grid, which serves nearly 100 communities in eastern New Mexico and West Texas.

Crews closed the final segment last week of a nearly 24-mile transmission loop that feeds the city's electric substations.

Since 2011, Xcel Energy has invested in more than 800 miles of new transmission lines and nearly a dozen substations across its service area in the two states. More than 500 miles of additional line will be completed by 2021.

Officials say the transmission expansion represents more than $1.6 billion in investment.