Electrical Power Capacity Upgrade Project

Project Overview

The Electrical Power Capacity Upgrade (EPCU) project is a major electric utility infrastructure upgrade that will increase capacity and improve reliability and resiliency of the import and internal electrical transmission and distribution systems at Los Alamos National Laboratory to successfully align with and meet the Department of Energy’s (DOE) and National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) strategic plan and mission.

EPCU includes construction of an import transmission line within the Caja del Rio area of Santa Fe County, New Mexico (NM) on lands primarily managed by the Santa Fe National Forest and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) (see map). From the Caja del Rio, the transmission line would span White Rock Canyon onto DOE/NNSA-managed lands at Los Alamos National Laboratory within Los Alamos County, NM.

Goals and Objectives 

The goals and objectives of the EPCU are to provide the Los Alamos National Laboratory 115 kV transmission system with 200 MVA import capacity with contingency reliability, to provide the internal 115kV transmission system with the capacity and reliability to support the imported 200 MVA capacity, and to provide the 13.8kV distribution system with the capacity and resiliency to deliver 200 MVA to LANL facilities and customer loads by 2027. The project will also include a fiber optic line to improve communications to LANL and the Los Alamos townsite, and power protection coordination across the transmission system network.