Xcel: Most power will be restored tonight

About 4,000 Xcel Energy customers in Clovis-Portales were without power late Thursday afternoon as crews continued to repair damages from Wednesday’s wind storm.

But there was good news: The electric company reported "the majority" of those impacted would have power restored before midnight Thursday.

An Xcel news release reported 136,000 of its Texas-New Mexico customers were impacted by the storm, “a record-setting number for any outage event on the regional system.”

Xcel spokesman Wes Reeves said in the news release that crews are working around the clock to make repairs.

He said “98 percent” of customers would have power before midnight Friday and the “more complex” repairs would be finished by Saturday.

Local weather stations showed sustained winds at 50-plus mph around the region at times on Wednesday with gusts near 80 mph.

State Sen. Pat Woods, R-Broadview, said in a news release that a wind-measuring device atop a crane set up in Broadview recorded a wind gust at 111 mph on Wednesday.

High winds were blamed for a train derailment near Logan on Wednesday morning, and Xcel reported one of its line workers based out of Hereford died making repairs on Wednesday night.

“We are working with authorities to determine the cause of the incident and are committed to supporting our employee’s family and coworkers during this difficult time,” Reeves said in a news release.

No one was seriously injured in the derailment, which involved 26 train cars.

Reeves said about 500 personnel were still working on restoration of about 1,600 jobs late Thursday afternoon.