ARTESIA, New Mexico (Oct. 21, 2021) – Xcel Energy is investing $1.1 million in electricity distribution upgrades in central Artesia to serve additional growth in power needs and to speed restoration in the event of outages, improvements that will sustain economic growth for years to come.
“Our New Mexico cities continue to create jobs and drive business and residential growth,” said David Hudson, president, Xcel Energy – New Mexico. “Xcel Energy plays a key role in ensuring our power facilities are capable of serving our customers with clean, safe, reliable and affordable power both now and years down the road. These projects are timely investments in the city’s future.”
The upgrades involve replacing wire on 2.75 miles of existing lines with a higher gauge wire that enables the lines to move more electricity. This work will take place south of Main Street between 33rd Street in the west and South Seventh Street in the east.
Additionally, electrical facilities in this central section of the city will get a voltage upgrade. The flow of electric current is measured in amps, which can be likened to water moving through pipes. Voltage is much like pressure in water pipes, and is what allows amps to flow over power lines. Xcel Energy’s investment in the central Artesia grid will increase the “electrical pressure” of the lines that serve this area, boosting the capability of the local grid to meet higher electricity demand from current and future customers without concern of straining the system.
The upgrade is converting the central Artesia distribution grid to a 15-kilovolt company standard, which also provides more options for tapping neighboring power sources in the event of an outage. Additionally, Xcel Energy also has more replacement parts for a 15-kilovolt system, which helps crews make quicker repairs.
Xcel Energy expects to start these projects before the end of 2021 and is working to have them complete by summer 2022. Once work is finished, the company is looking to add another substation in the area to free up capacity on existing substation facilities, further boosting the local grid’s ability to move power as customer demand grows in the future.
“This is a part of town where the existing distribution system has served the city well for many years, but in order to support the growth we’re seeing in Artesia we need to update the lines and boost voltages in the central part of the city to ensure the system will meet anticipated growth in electricity demand,” said Mike McLeod, Xcel Energy-New Mexico’s regional manager for Community Relations and Economic Development.
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About Xcel Energy
Xcel Energy (NASDAQ: XEL) provides the energy that powers millions of homes and businesses across eight Western and Midwestern states. Headquartered in Minneapolis, the company is an industry leader in responsibly reducing carbon emissions and producing and delivering clean energy solutions from a variety of renewable sources at competitive prices. For more information, visit xcelenergy.com or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
