Powering Up for a New Era  

A new electrical transmission service substation is being constructed on the northern grounds of Metro Water Recovery’s Robert W. Hite Treatment Facility (RWHTF). Currently, steel is being erected and soon powerlines will tap our organization into a new era of efficiency and reliability.  

 “This project will take Metro from a distribution-level power user to a transmission-level power user. This advancement is something that’s a better fit based for Metro’s current and projected loading,” explains Ben Ruder, Principal Civil Engineer, and project manager for the new electrical transmission service substation. 

On the current system, Metro’s wastewater treatment process is served by five medium voltage distribution feeders fed from two substations owned and operated by Xcel Energy. Due to the high demands of RWHTF’s heavy machinery and 24/7 operation, we’re one of the heaviest distribution level power users on the grid. Furthermore, the current electrical service has limited expansion potential and is nearing the end of its design life. In addition, the new substation will limit service interruptions that are outside of Metro’s control, which could hamper operations on the plant site. 

 Furthermore, the current electrical service has limited expansion potential and is nearing the end of its design life. In addition, the new substation will limit service interruptions that are outside of Metro’s control, which could hamper operations on the plant site.

The new substation will address those barriers by increasing Metro’s power reliability, where outages will be significantly reduced compared to the current power system. “We currently experience about 15 outages a year on the distribution system. On the new transmission system, we only expect an outage once every five years or so.” explains Ruder.

Overall, the new substation project should meet Metro’s current and projected power needs all the way through 2055 and will reduce Metro’s energy costs by roughly a million dollars per year.

Connection of existing buildings and processes to the new power source will occur between August and November of 2025. Substantial completion is scheduled for mid-January 2026 and final completion is scheduled for mid-March 2026.