Xcel Energy rebuilding key Carson County power line

Municipal water customers, oil field facilities to benefit from improved reliability.

Posted

AMARILLO, Texas (April 26, 2022) – Xcel Energy is rebuilding an electric transmission line in northern Carson County south of Borger that serves an important role in the transport of water to area cities and powers oil field activities critical to local economies.

“We’ve invested a lot of money expanding our transmission system over the past decade, but it’s equally as important to upgrade existing lines and substations that were put into service decades ago,” said David Hudson, president, Xcel Energy – Texas. “We have long been a partner in the development of energy-related industries in the Borger area and see opportunities for continued growth in that area.”

The Carson County project involves dismantling a 69-kilovolt line that runs almost 28 miles from western Gray County through the Roxana oilfields south of Borger to the Hutchinson County Interchange west of Borger. The line is being rebuilt with steel poles and higher-grade conductor wire that will boost the power delivery capabilities of the line. This area was first developed in the oil boom of the 1920s and much of the current line dates back to the 1960s.

In addition to oilfield customers, the Roxana line supports the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority, which delivers water from Lake Meredith and from underground water sources to more than 500,000 people in 11 member cities in the Texas Panhandle and South Plains by way of a 358-mile aqueduct system.

Transmission lines move electricity at high voltages from power sources into towns, cities and industrial areas. Upgrading and expanding the region’s transmission system has been a top priority of Xcel Energy for more than a decade. Through its Power for the Plains initiative, more than $3 billion has been invested in capacity and reliability upgrades that help underpin economic and community development across the area.

More information about Xcel Energy’s grid improvement initiatives, clean energy projects and innovative customer solutions can be found at xcelenergy.com/ourenergyfuturesw.