Wisteria-Herradura Line Connects Mexicali and Tecate After 33 Years

Mexico's Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) brought the Wisteria-Herradura transmission line into service on August 15, 2026. Spanning 135 kilometers at 230 kilovolts (kV), the line connects the municipalities of Mexicali and Tecate in Baja California. It is the first project of this scale built in the state in 33 years.

The project, comprising 429 steel structures, is described by CFE as one of the most significant transmission works in Baja California in the past three decades, according to El Financiero. The line responds to the rapid growth in electricity demand across Mexico's northwest, driven by industrial and population expansion along the border, and integrates into the National Transmission Grid (Red Nacional de Transmisión, RNT). Excélsior reported that the added capacity is intended to reduce saturation risks in existing infrastructure, in a zone where manufacturing activity and urban growth have strained supply. For the region, the line expands electric transport capacity along a border corridor that concentrates industry, commerce, and a growing population.

Approximately 1,500 workers from CFE and contractor firms participated in construction and commissioning, among them Aselco, a Mexican electrical infrastructure company also involved in the Puerto Peñasco photovoltaic plant in Sonora. The line will benefit more than 1.2 million state residents, according to the company. Despite the new infrastructure, Teresa Babún Villarreal, president of Canacintra Mexicali, noted that substation capacity for energy distribution and transformation remains insufficient, according to La Voz de la Frontera. CFE stated it will continue strategic investments to strengthen and modernize the National Electricity System.

With the line now operational, attention turns to the distribution network in Baja California, in a border zone where industrial demand continues to grow. CFE's investment cycle in the northwest RNT is the indicator to watch in the coming months.

This report was written with artificial intelligence assistance based on verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.