Xcel Energy plans upgrades, rate increase

March 02, 2011

x-cel energy, which serves eastern new mexico... is making some changes to better handle future cold spells. the utility says a spike in electricity use during last month's freeze overwhelmed the power system, causing transformers to go out. x-cel will install a new power line in portales, to help bring in backup power when needed. some areas will also get moved to a higher-voltage service to handle the demand. meanwhile, x-cel is asking new mexico regulators for a rate hike to pay for improvements to its system. x-cel wants an overall rate hike of nearly seven percent ... which would add about nine dollars a minute thumbnail 05:07 pm month to an average residential customer's bill.