Xcel Energy has filed an application with the Public Utility Commission of Texas seeking approval to build a new line that could move electricity to 375,000 homes.
The new line would be 200 miles long and 345-kilovolts. Xcel Energy said it would link the company's TUCO Substation north of Lubbock to a new interchange in Beckham County, Okla.
"We continue to see strong economic growth in this part of the southwestern United States, which is driving the demand for a more robust transmission grid," said Riley Hill, president and CEO of Southwestern Public Service Company, an Xcel Energy company. "The electric transmission line from the TUCO Substation to Oklahoma is a critical piece of a long-term transmission improvement plan. The line will enhance the area's economic competitiveness by improving reliability and opening new markets for electric power."
The line would run through parts of Hale, Floyd, Motley, Cottle, Briscoe, Hall, Childress, Donley, Collingsworth and Wheeler Counties.
It's expected that the new line would move at last 500 megawatts of generating capacity which is enough to power 375,000 typical homes in the region. According to Xcel Energy, the purpose of the new line is to help reduce congestion on the regional transmission system improve reliability and improve import-export capability between regional power markets.
As for who will foot the cost of this new line, Xcel says the cost will be split between members of the Southwest Power Pool, reducing Xcel Energy's share to about 12 percent of the total cost. That cost will be between $158 million and $172 million.
