Texas Drives $5 Billion in U.S. T&D Kickoffs in Second Quarter

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Alongside the projected growth in U.S. power-generation demand is a projected need for new and improved transmission and distribution (T&D) capacity. This includes areas such as the Permian Basin, which consistently is a hotspot for industrial growth. Industrial Info is tracking more than $5 billion worth of T&D projects across the U.S. that are set to begin construction in the second quarter, with Texas accounting for more than 33% of the investment.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing the top 10 U.S. states for T&D projects set to kick off from April through June, by total investment value.

Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) (San Diego, California), is spearheading one of the largest T&D investments in Texas: the Sand Lake-to-Bearkat line, which will run 165 miles from the Sand Lake Substation in Pecos to the Bearkat Substation in Garden City, traversing a significant portion of the Permian Basin. The project, currently slated to begin work in June, is divided into two segments: a 94-mile, $263.2 million line from Pecos to McCamey, where it will link at the North McCamey Substation, and a 71-mile, $198.8 million line from McCamey to Garden City.

Build in conjunction with the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA), a public utility, the new, 345-kilovolt (kV) line is designed to improve reliability and accommodate projected demand growth in the West Texas counties of Crane, Crockett, Glasscock, Pecos, Reagan, Reeves, Upton and Ward. Oncor and LCRA also are preparing for a $5.53 million upgrade to the Sand Lake Substation and an $11.8 million upgrade to the North McCamey Substation, both of which are expected to run along the same schedule.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can read detailed reports on the Pecos-to-McCamey and McCamey-to-Garden City lines, and the Sand Lake and North McCamey upgrades.

The project is part of Oncor's Permian Basin Reliability Plan, which is one of several projects--others being the Delaware Basin Load Integration Plan and the West Texas Infrastructure Plan--totaling $36 billion of capital investments within the Lone Star State. These developments are in response to Oncor's projected peak load growth from 31 to 36 gigawatts (GW) within Texas by 2031.

In North Texas, Oncor is preparing to begin work on another 345-kV project: a 22-mile, $167.8 million line from Rhome to Flower Mound, which also will entail constructing the $33.5 million Ramhorn Hill Switching Station in Rhome and the $41.4 million Dunham Switching Station in Flower Mound. The west-to-east line is situated about 20 miles north of Fort Worth. Subscribers can learn more from detailed project reports on the line, Ramhorn Hill station and Dunham station.

As part of its "Colorado's Power Pathway" plan, which is designed to improve rural Colorado's power grid and enable more renewable development, Xcel Energy Incorporated (NASDAQ:XEL) (Minneapolis, Minnesota) is preparing to begin work on a 30-mile, $22.6 million line from Boone to Colorado City, situated about 70 miles south of Colorado Springs. The company also expects to build the $30 million Huckleberry Substation in Colorado City, to serve as a point of interconnection. Subscribers can read detailed reports on the line and substation.

The East Coast is seeing its fair share of T&D development. FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) (Akron, Ohio) is developing its 69-kV Shawnee-Walker Line to accommodate projected load growth in the area, which is part of the Utica Shale. The 30-mile line is divided into three segments:

• a six-mile, $15 million portion from East Stroudsburg to Shohola; see project report
• an 11-mile, $27 million portion from Shohola to Dingmans Ferry; see project report
• a 13-mile, $32.5 million portion from Dingmans Ferry to near Walker Lake; see project report

The project is part of a broader effort by FirstEnergy to address Pennsylvania's growing needs. "The Pennsylvania Commission approved our third long-term infrastructure investment plan, known as LTIP 3, in December," said Brian Tierney, the chief executive officer, in a recent quarterly earnings-related conference call. "This program will track approximately $1.6 billion of capital targeted at grid modernization and reliability in Pennsylvania over the next five years. This includes planned investments of approximately $300 million in 2025 to improve circuits; deploy reclosers and other sectionalizing devices; and replace overhead equipment to reduce customer outage times."

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project and Plant databases can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.

Subscribers can click here for a full list of detailed reports for T&D projects across the U.S. that are set to begin construction in the second quarter.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).