Distinguished Engineer Citations

David T. Hudson 

Distinguished Engineer

2024

Degrees

B.S. Industrial Engineering - 1883 TTU

MBA - 1990 West Texas A&M University

 

Citation

At time of Nomination in 2024

 

David T. Hudson, P.E., is the retired President of Xcel Energy – Southwestern Public Service Company (SPS).  SPS is a regional electric utility originally formed in Roswell in 1904 and is now based out of Amarillo. It has had long-term relationships with Texas Tech.  SPS is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Xcel Energy Inc. and does business as ‘Xcel Energy.'

SPS serves electrical power service to 400,000 consumers in 93 cities and towns in the Texas Panhandle, Texas South Plains, and southwestern New Mexico.  SPS serves the northwestern quadrant of the Permian Basin, primarily in New Mexico.  David worked for SPS for over 38 years before retiring in 2022.  He spent the last eight years of his career at SPS as President and served on Xcel Energy's corporate Executive Committee.  Now, he is a part-time instructor of engineering and business at West Texas A&M University in Canyon.

Prior to becoming President in 2014, David progressed from being an Engineer, Supervisory Engineer, Senior Engineer in the Rates and Economic Research Department doing cost of service analyses and providing expert testimony in many regulatory proceedings that set the price of electrical service.  Later, David served as the Director of Strategic Planning, and the Director of Community and Customer Relations.  He also served as Vice President of Regulatory Administration.  David was a representative on the Southwest Power Pool's Members Committee that advised the SPP's board of directors.

David worked on the economic justification and regulatory approval of many power generating facilities in the region including the most recent $1.6 billion 1000 Megawatt Hale and Sagamore Wind farms located near Plainview and Portales.  He also worked on regulatory approvals of hundreds of miles of new high-voltage transmission lines and substations in Texas and New Mexico.

David is a native of Lubbock and he graduated from Lubbock Monterey High School where he was exposed to Texas Tech's Engineering programs.  He entered Texas Tech as an IE student and graduated in 1983 after serving as the Student Chapter President of Tau Beta Pi and being recognized by the college as an Outstanding Engineering Student Graduate.  In 1989 he earned his license as a Professional Engineer in Texas.  David has served on the Texas Tech Industrial Engineering Industry Advisory Board and has been inducted into the IMSE Academy and serves as the current Academy chair.

David and his wife, Sue, have been married for 36 years and have three children, two of whom are engineers.  David and Sue also have two grandsons and are demanding more grandchildren.  David is a long-time high school football official in the Texas Panhandle.