Xcel EnergyInc. has energized a 37-mile, 115-kV Curry-to-Bailey transmissionline running between its Curry substation near Clovis, N.M., and Bailey substationnear Muleshoe, Texas, completing another portion of its Power for the Plainsproject.

"Before this line was completed, we had only one115-kilovolt line coming into the Bailey County Substation," Xcel Energyproject manager Donnie TeBeest said in an Oct. 4 news release. "An outageon that one line could cause reliability issues in the Bailey County andMuleshoe areas."

The company expects the approximately $38 million line willimprove system reliability. It is one of dozens of linesbeing added in aremote and largely rural region of eastern New Mexico and the Texas panhandle.The next project due to be completed, sometime in October, is a roughly25-mile, 115-kV line in Eddy County, N.M. The overall Power for the Plainsproject is scheduled to be completed by June 2020.