New Mexico's largest wind project development coming to Roosevelt County

PORTALES, NM—The Roosevelt County Community Development Corporation (RCCDC) welcomes the announcement of Invenergy LLC’s wind farm to be developed in south Roosevelt County and then transferred to Xcel Energy.

The RCCDC supports Invenergy LLC and Xcel Energy with this important effort. The RCCDC applauds Xcel Energy for acquiring and completing this project as it will bring tremendous economic development to our area. The wind energy project named Sagamore, will be located approximately 20 miles south of Portales and be capable of producing a maximum 522 megawatts (MW), enough to power about 194,000 homes. The project’s boundary will encompass approximately 100,000 acres involving up to 80 Roosevelt County landowners. Approximately 60% of the land will be leased for use by Xcel Energy to construct and operate the wind farm. The project is estimated to create up to 300 jobs during construction, and 20 to 30 full-time operations jobs when completed. Total cost of the Sagamore project is estimated at $865 million. Xcel Energy plans for this generating facility to be on line by 2020.

The RCCDC Board President, Randy Knudson expressed "This development project will bring positive economic activity to Roosevelt County and Portales including jobs, hotel lodging, homes, apartments, and RV space rentals during the construction period along with, purchases of building supplies, household products and gasoline, increase in restaurant and café activity, and increased revenue to project landowners that in turn circulates within the county. Our hope is to have several of the 20-30 permanent employees after construction live within Portales and Roosevelt County.

Another benefit to the county, and all of Xcel Energy’s customers, is long-term low cost energy. Xcel Energy provides some of the lowest costs of electricity in the nation and Xcel Energy’s overall wind proposal is expected to provide approximately $2.8 billion in customer savings over 30 years; therefore, benefiting our citizens, businesses, and industries."

The Sagamore Wind project in Roosevelt County is one of two facilities that will be constructed and owned by Xcel Energy. The second facility, named "Hale" is located in Hale County, Texas. Energy from a third facility to be developed and owned by NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, named "Bonita" will be contracted to Xcel Energy through a 30-year purchase power agreement, and is located in Texas. The Sagamore Wind project is the largest of the three.

The RCCDC was established in 1998 and was formed to preserve, expand, and promote the diverse regional economy through proactive engagement in business expansion and retention, entrepreneurial development, business recruitment, and community-oriented marketing for the City of Portales, Eastern New Mexico University, Roosevelt County, its citizens, and students.