Gray Street Substation

Xcel Energy is building a better, cleaner energy future by taking steps to create a smarter and stronger energy grid, for a more secure energy supply. This commitment includes updating infrastructure to meet current and future energy demands.

Need and Benefits

The existing Gray Street Substation is located at Gray Street and 11th Avenue in Lakewood, and has been in operation for the past several decades. The existing facility operates as a transmission switchyard with no distribution service to provide electricity to the local area. Currently, electricity is provided to this local area of Lakewood from substations far from the area. This creates reliability issues and limits growth.

Lakewood continues to experience residential and commercial growth, which has increased the demand for additional electricity. Xcel Energy is making upgrades to the electric system in this area to reliably serve the additional customer need anticipated in the future.

Gray Street Substation will:

Provide additional system capacity
Maintain adequate voltage to serve electrical demand
Reliably serve local customers’ electric needs as residential and commercial demand increases and Increase Power Quality in the area around Gray Street
Convert the existing open-air yard to a yard with an equipment enclosure

What does a substation do?

Distribution substations, like the planned upgrade of the Gray Street Substation, reduce voltage of electricity delivered from load serving transmission lines to a lower voltage that is delivered on distribution lines to a lower voltage to power homes and businesses.

Existing Transmission Lines
Gray Street Substation
Distribution line will deliver power from the Gray Street Substation to local residences and businesses.

Resources

Project Factsheet (Opens in a new window) Comment Form (Opens in a new window) Project Boards (Opens in a new window) Heat Map (Opens in a new window) Project Diagram (Opens in a new window)

Project Overview

The planned Gray Street Substation will have a new and different look.

To accommodate growth and ensure electric service in this area of Lakewood, new substation equipment is needed.
To ensure adequate electric capacity at the Gray Street site, a full 3-transformer substation will be constructed,
Xcel Energy plans to expand capacity at the substation by converting the existing open-air substation to a gas-insulated substation (GIS) Equipment can be placed closer together, thereby saving space and is the only viable option that can be accommodated on the land available.
GIS is a state-of-the art substation with equipment insulated with a colorless, odorless, nonflamable and nontoxic sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) gas.
Although costly, GIS is used in densely populated urban areas where space is limited.

Typical GIS Enclosed Substation

Existing Footprint:

Conceptual Footprint:

Timeline

Phase 1:

Install temporary bypass transmission lines (shoo-flys) to allow power to continue flowing while work is underway
Expand the fence line on property to allow for additional equipment
Partially demolish existing substation equipment and grade the surface
Install transformer
Install underground distribution lines.

Phase 2:

Preconstruction (demolish remaining existing substation equipment and grade the surface, lay foundations
Substation construction
Complete walking path realignment
Complete public sidewalk along Gray Street and 11th Avenue
Restoration and landscaping

Anticipated Schedule

Public Outreach

Join us for a community neighborhood meeting!

Date: Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Time: 6:00pm-8:00pm

Meeting Location:

(Join in person)
Mountair Christian Church
1390 Benton St, Lakewood CO 80214

Virtual Meeting Info:

(Join Webinar)
Join Zoom Webinar Online
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89323008702

Meeting Agenda:

Introduction & Purpose
Explanation of the Special Use Process
Presentation by the Applicant
Questions and Discussion with Citizens
Closing Comments and Next Steps

Xcel Energy is hosting this neighborhood open house meeting to inform the neighborhood residents and businesses about the upcoming work at the Gray Street Substation, the need for and benefits of the project, the construction activities and sequencing and request preferences regarding the appearance of the GIS equipment enclosure and wall.

The following images illustrate examples for the exterior materials for the substation. Feel free to review and submit your preferred options using the project comment form or contacting us.

Xcel Energy is asking the community to provide preferences on the appearance of the GIS equipment enclosure and masonry wall. We will be collecting comments through the end of May.