Updated:
Originally Published:
EL PASO, Texas — This summer, El Paso Electric and Beta Engineering hit an exciting milestone together as they marked the completion of EPE’s 115kV Wicked Substation. This station, which gets its name from a line in the iconic “El Paso” Western ballad by Marty Robbins, will connect the Felina Solar Project to the grid, making it the first EPE-owned and -operated solar facility on their grid.
Once online, Felina Solar will provide 150 megawatts of power—enough clean energy to serve 19,000 homes—helping advance the EPE’s sustainability goals while fueling local economic and community development.
In the video, EPE team members describe the collaboration, the challenges overcome, and the pride they feel in delivering a project that supports El Paso’s energy future.
Beyond the technical achievement, EPE team members emphasized what the Wicked Substation means for reliability and for the communities they serve:
“El Paso Electric is very engaged in making sure that their system is safe and reliable, and also that they meet the community standards,” said Alfredo Portillo, Project Manager – Grid Strategy, Planning & Permitting at El Paso Electric.
“I just like the growth that it’s bringing to those smaller communities,” added Oswaldo “Ozzie” Alarcon, Supervisor Substation Construction at El Paso Electric.
Beta provided turnkey engineering, procurement, and construction services for this station and helped EPE accelerate their project schedule by three months to ensure the station would be ready for the solar farm’s in-service date.
With growing demand on the U.S. power grid, many utilities like EPE need additional resources to complete critical upgrade and expansion projects on time. Beta provides engineering and project management expertise tailored specifically to high-voltage substation, switchyard, and transmission line projects and works with its clients to design and build projects that not only meet their scope and specifications but look and feel like they built them in-house.
The Wicked project is a great example of the problem-solving, creativity, and critical teamwork that happen behind the scenes as utilities like EPE upgrade and expand the power grid to better serve their communities, now and in the future.
About Beta Engineering
Beta Engineering is a substation EPC company headquartered in Pineville, Louisiana, with an office in San Diego. Since 1975, we’ve helped power delivery companies across the U.S. complete high-voltage substation and transmission line projects. Contact our team to tap into 50 years of problem-solving experience—and a proven commitment to safety.
Updated:
September 17, 2025
Updated:
Originally Published:
EL PASO, Texas — This summer, El Paso Electric and Beta Engineering hit an exciting milestone together as they marked the completion of EPE’s 115kV Wicked Substation. This station, which gets its name from a line in the iconic “El Paso” Western ballad by Marty Robbins, will connect the Felina Solar Project to the grid, making it the first EPE-owned and -operated solar facility on their grid.
Once online, Felina Solar will provide 150 megawatts of power—enough clean energy to serve 19,000 homes—helping advance the EPE’s sustainability goals while fueling local economic and community development.
In the video, EPE team members describe the collaboration, the challenges overcome, and the pride they feel in delivering a project that supports El Paso’s energy future.
Beyond the technical achievement, EPE team members emphasized what the Wicked Substation means for reliability and for the communities they serve:
“El Paso Electric is very engaged in making sure that their system is safe and reliable, and also that they meet the community standards,” said Alfredo Portillo, Project Manager – Grid Strategy, Planning & Permitting at El Paso Electric.
“I just like the growth that it’s bringing to those smaller communities,” added Oswaldo “Ozzie” Alarcon, Supervisor Substation Construction at El Paso Electric.
Beta provided turnkey engineering, procurement, and construction services for this station and helped EPE accelerate their project schedule by three months to ensure the station would be ready for the solar farm’s in-service date.
With growing demand on the U.S. power grid, many utilities like EPE need additional resources to complete critical upgrade and expansion projects on time. Beta provides engineering and project management expertise tailored specifically to high-voltage substation, switchyard, and transmission line projects and works with its clients to design and build projects that not only meet their scope and specifications but look and feel like they built them in-house.
The Wicked project is a great example of the problem-solving, creativity, and critical teamwork that happen behind the scenes as utilities like EPE upgrade and expand the power grid to better serve their communities, now and in the future.
About Beta Engineering
Beta Engineering is a substation EPC company headquartered in Pineville, Louisiana, with an office in San Diego. Since 1975, we’ve helped power delivery companies across the U.S. complete high-voltage substation and transmission line projects. Contact our team to tap into 50 years of problem-solving experience—and a proven commitment to safety.
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