AMARILLO, Texas (NEWS RELEASE) – The following is a news release from Xcel Energy:
Xcel Energy employs more than 1,600 workers in its Texas-New Mexico operations, but they don’t do their jobs without help from the communities they serve.
Hundreds of vendors around the area supply the company with everything from food, lodging and fuel to items such as conductor wire and specialized equipment to build and maintain a complex power grid. In 2018 alone, the company spent more than $422 million with Texas vendors, and another $35 million in New Mexico acquiring the goods and services needed to serve customers with electricity around the clock.
“Generating electricity in our home region and delivering it across thousands of miles of high-voltage power lines involves businesses in every town we serve,” said David Hudson, president, Xcel Energy – New Mexico, Texas. “We support our communities and they support us, and this has been the case throughout our 115-year history of service in Texas and New Mexico.”
Xcel Energy’s support extends to area taxing entities as well. As an investor-owned utility, the company paid more than $56 million in taxes in Texas in 2018, and another $40 million in New Mexico. On top of these tax payments, the company paid more than $20 million in franchise fees to cities served by Xcel Energy in both Texas and New Mexico. Xcel Energy operates in 94 towns and cities in a 52,000-squaremile service area that includes the Panhandle and South Plains regions of Texas and a large portion of eastern New Mexico. The company’s high-voltage transmission network stretches from southwestern Kansas through the Texas Panhandle and South Plans to southeastern New Mexico.
Ten percent or more of the company’s area employment base is comprised of military veterans, who actively support veteran initiatives in the area. Employees from all backgrounds are active in their communities, and gave close to $711,000 to local United Way organizations in Texas and New Mexico, a number that includes a corporate match from the Xcel Energy Foundation. Additionally, employees volunteered more than 6,000 hours in 2018, and the company awarded $180,000 in nonprofit grants.
“Our employees make the greatest impact of all,” Hudson said. “They are generous with their money and serve on countless boards and committees that support educational, community and spiritual aims across the region. And in our smaller communities, they often serve as volunteer first responders as well.”
The company’s regional impact will continue to deepen as new investments in power generation and delivery systems are completed over the next two years. The new $700 million Hale Wind Project south of Plainview, Texas, has created 20 new permanent jobs and is expected to deliver $1.9 million in royalty payments to local landowners and $22 million in property tax payments to local taxing entities, including the Petersburg Independent School District.
Later this year, the company plans to start construction on the Sagamore Wind Project south of Portales, New Mexico, that will have a similar impact on the regional economy. Additionally, a 242-mile, 345-kilovolt transmission link between Texas and New Mexico will be completed by the summer of 2020 that will significantly boost reliability and capacity of the power grid on the Texas South Plains and in southeastern New Mexico.
“Our daily operations and capital improvements not only benefit the economy with short-term spending, but pave the way for businesses and industries to expand across the region, creating jobs for generations to come,” Hudson said.
About Xcel Energy
Xcel Energy (NASDAQ: XEL) provides the energy that powers millions of homes and businesses across eight Western and Midwestern states. Headquartered in Minneapolis, the company is an industry leader in responsibly reducing carbon emissions and producing and delivering clean energy solutions from a variety of renewable sources at competitive prices. For more information, visit xcelenergy.com or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
(News release from Xcel Energy)
