Xcel Energy to complete $23.5M Texas substation project by mid-November

Xcel Energy is investing $23.5 million into grid upgrades around Hereford, Texas, shoring up reliability for large agribusiness along the Highway 60 corridor and making room for future growth.

The bulk of the investment will go into the new Tierra Blanca substation, located south of Highway 60 and west of FM 2943. Since the existing substation in that region had been blocked from growing by other industrial growth nearby, the creation of Tierra Blanca will offer a new termination point for five 115-kV circuits that currently end at the Deaf Smith Interchange. The addition will also allow room for two new 115-kV circuits.

“It’s not unlike renovating your house and adding more circuits and outlets to the rooms where you spend the most time,” David Hudson, president of Xcel Energy – Texas, said. “Tierra Blanca gives all our customers in Hereford more ways to plug into the grid and lessens the frequency and duration of service interruptions should they occur.”

As Xcel Energy also hosts grid access points for the Deaf Smith Electric Co-op in east Hereford, Tierra Blanca will further improve reliability for those customers as well when it finishes construction — currently slated to be achieved by mid-November.