Xcel Energy announces $770 million investment in existing facilities

Jul. 29—Xcel Energy announced on Wednesday that it will invest approximately $770 million in existing Texas and New Mexico power generating facilities by extending the life of two older natural gas-fueled units, constructing solar generating systems and adding battery storage.

According to an Xcel press release, the investments are designed to "meet growing electricity needs and retire power plant generators that have served customers for close to seven decades."

Xcel Energy's plan is to extend the life of the two natural gas units at its Cunningham-Maddox Generating Complex near Hobbs. The plan also calls for the construction of three solar generating facilities — two at Cunningham Station and one at Plant X Generating Station near Earth, Texas. A battery system is also planned at Cunningham Station to store surplus power for grid reliability.

"What we proposed Wednesday, really is kind of a separate issue from Tolk (the Tolk Generating Station near Muleshoe, Texas)," Wes Reeves, senior media relations representative told the News. The Tolk plant includes two coal-fueled steam units with a combined capacity of 1,067 megawatts.

"We've got a lot of older power plants in the region, including the two that were mentioned," Reeves said. "Plant X in Texas goes back to 1952, the original unit there, so 70 years. And so some of these older units are being retired."

Reeves said that usually, a power generating unit will have about a 35- to 40-year lifespan. The Tolk Generating Station's retirement was advanced last year to 2028 instead of 2032. "The main issue at Tolk has been our water supply there, it uses underground water. And we use a lot of water in that process because we generate with steam," Reeves said.

"By reinvesting in these power plants, we are providing new opportunities for our valued workers...while realizing significant savings for our customers by repurposing existing grid connections and generating electricity from free and abundant sunshine," said Adrian J. Rodriguez in the release. Rodriguez is the president for Xcel Energy — New Mexico, Texas.

The release stated that these upgrades and additions will add $116 million in tax revenue to their host communities and save customers $900 million to $2 billion in fuel costs over 35 years.

Reeves said Xcel officials aren't sure yet how many people these projects will employ, however, "Once we get a little further down the road, we should have some estimates on how many folks will be involved," he said. "There's a short-term economic impact, and then more of a long-term impact from the ongoing operations of a power facility."

The two solar plants near Hobbs will have a combined peak capacity of 268 megawatts. The solar facility at Plant X will produce 150 megawatts. So, combined, the facilities would power about 140,000 typical Xcel Energy customer homes on average, according to the release.