Xcel Energy will be investing approximately $770 million in existing Texas-New Mexico power generating facilities by extending the life of two older natural gasfueled units, constructing solar generating systems and adding battery storage as it seeks to meet growing electricity needs and retire power plant generators that have served customers for close to seven decades.
These upgrades and additions to the generating fleet will return $116 million in added tax revenue to their host communities and save customers $900 million to $2 billion in fuel costs over 35 years.
Additionally, Xcel Energy will pass through the anticipated $500 million in federal solar tax credits as savings to customers over 10 years.
In proposals filed with the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission and the Public Utility Commission of Texas, Xcel Energy presented its plan to extend the life of two natural gas units at its Cunningham-Maddox Generating Complex near Hobbs, New Mexico.
Additionally, the plan calls for the construction of three solar generating facilities with 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.
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 under optimal conditions. Combined, the facilities would power about 140,000 typical Xcel Energy customer homes on average.
Given the intermittent nature of solar generation, total capacity from these facilities would total approximately 280 megawatts.
If regulators approve the plan as filed, Xcel Energy expects to have the new and updated generating resources online by 2026 and 2027.
Plant X, located in Lamb County south of Earth, Texas, has been serving regional customers since 1952. At its peak, Plant X was made up of four natural gasfueled steam generating units.
The oldest of these units is being retired this year. Like Cunningham, Plant X has a skilled workforce made up of local residents and is the site of valuable substation and transmission infrastructure that moves electricity to the wider grid. Xcel Energy is saving as much as $440 million by integrating solar generating capabilities into the grid infrastructure at Plant X and Cunningham while maintaining its economic commitments in the facilities’ host communities.