Regulatory commission puts Xcel Energy power plant on fast track

From the Alamogordo Daily News - By Milan Simonich - SANTA FE -- Xcel Energy's request to build a $16.4 million power-generating plant in Quay County is on a fast track. The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission voted 5-0 Tuesday to gear the project for approval in as little as 60 days, in all likelihood bypassing an analysis by a hearing examiner. Commission Chairman Patrick Lyons pressed to move the project forward as fast as possible, saying it would solve a problem that had on occasion paralyzed the small city of Tucumcari. Lyons, R-Clovis, said Tucumcari now has no backup generating system. At times of peak demand for power on Xcel's grid across eastern New Mexico, Tucumcari has been left without electricity for up to six hours at a time, Lyons said. "You can't pump gas. You can't transact business in any store. It shuts the town down," Lyons said. The new plant would provide 23 megawatts of standby electricity for Tucumcari, which is served by a single transmission feed.. Read more

Regulatory commission puts Xcel Energy power plant on fast track