Sierra Electric Cooperative will build substation and 6.5 miles of power lines at Spaceport America

The New Mexico Spaceport Authority has approved an agreement to pay Sierra Electric Cooperative about $5.5 million for the cooperative to build a substation and some 6.5 miles of power lines to provide electricity infrastructure at the state-owned spaceport in southern Sierra County, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported.

The newspaper said that according to the contract approved Wednesday, the $5.5 million figure is an estimate only. The amount paid by the spaceport will be based on actual receipts from the cooperative.

“Our hope is that by December 2010, we’ll be able to energize this new system, and then we’ll have adequate power,” said Steve Landeene, spaceport authority director.

Steve Gee, manager for Sierra Electric, said the cooperative, is “ready to go to work” and will do its best to finish in December 2010, the Sun-News reported.

According to the newspaper, Sierra Electric is a member-owned cooperative that Gee said serves about 4,400 power hook-ups in Sierra County. Gee said the spaceport substation will be a 10 megavolt amp facility and the source of the electricity will be a line owned by Tri-State, a wholesale supplier used by Sierra Electric.

Spaceport America, a planned launch site for commercial space vehicles, is under construction and has an expected completion date of late 2010 or early 2011, the Sun-News said.