Xcel to begin Colorado Power Pathways permitting

DENVER — Xcel Energy Inc.’s (NYSE: XEL) won regulatory approval this month to begin in earnest its ambitious Colorado Power Pathways project, which will involve the construction of a $1.7-billion, 500-plus-mile electrical transmission line across wide swaths of the state.

The Power Pathway project is expected to stretch between 560 and 650 miles — which would make it Colorado’s longest transmission line — to deliver renewable energy in a loop from Longmont east into Weld County and the plains, then south to the corner of the state and back north to Denver. The project’s aim is to assist Xcel achieve…