News Releases

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Work continues this spring on an $67 million electricity
system upgrade in Sioux Falls to ensure reliable service for customers, Xcel Energy
said today. Projects include doubling transmission-line capacity, building a new
substation and adding more automatic switches to sense outages and quickly restore
power.

"The Sioux Falls area is experiencing robust economic activity, and Xcel Energy's
infrastructure investments will enhance customer service now and position us to
reliably meet increasing customer needs in the future," said Jim Wilcox, Xcel Energy's
principal manager in South Dakota.

Work began last fall and is to be completed by 2015. Projects include:

• upgrading the high-voltage transmission loop on the city's north side to 115
kilovolts from 69 kilovolts, which will boost reliability and double the
power-carrying capability of the system;
• replacing an existing substation near the falls with a new, higher capacity
substation at the old stockyards site; and
• adding on key distribution lines more automatic switches that sense power
failures and switch to an alternate power source. Ten such switches already
operate in and around Sioux Falls. Xcel Energy plans to expand use of this
technology in the near future.

"We are making smart investments to strengthen, refresh and modernize the
electricity grid, investments that will ensure a safe and reliable system for Sioux Falls
customers well into the future," Wilcox said.

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