EXHIBIT 99



                 SPS and PSCo Shareholders Approve Merger
                   To Create New Century Energies, Inc.


AMARILLO, TEXAS -- Shareholders of Southwestern Public Service Company
(NYSE:SPS) today approved the proposed merger of the utility with Public
Service Company of Colorado (NYSE:PSR) to create a holding company called
New Century Energies, Inc.

            Public Service Company of Colorado announced today that its
shareholders also approved the merger.

            More than 74 percent of the outstanding shares of SPS common
stock were voted for the merger at the company's annual meeting in
Amarillo, Texas.  More than 72 percent of the combined outstanding shares
of PSCo's common and preferred stock were voted for the merger at a special
shareholders meeting in Denver, Colorado.  At each company, an affirmative
vote of two-thirds of the outstanding shares was required for approval.

            "Our shareholders understand the changes under way within our
industry," said SPS Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bill D. Helton.
"The vote today signals their desire to see that our two firms join to
create a strong and innovative company that can succeed in the more
competitive utility industry that is quickly developing."

            "There are significant benefits in this merger for our
customers, as well," Helton said.  "Customers will share in the
efficiencies the merger will create, through continued quality service and
future electric rates that will be lower than they would be otherwise.  We
are now focused on the state and federal regulatory approvals necessary as
we work toward our targeted completion date of fall 1996."

            New Century Energies will become the parent company of SPS and
PSCo, which will maintain their separate identities and continue to serve
customers in their respective service areas.  New Century Energies will be
headquartered in Denver, although significant operations of the holding
company will be in Amarillo.  Amarillo and Denver will remain the
headquarters of SPS and PSCo, respectively.  









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            Also at the SPS annual meeting, shareholders re-elected all
four directors of the 12-member board who were standing for re-election
this year: Chairman Bill D. Helton; Danny H. Conklin, petroleum geologist
and partner in Philcon Development Co. of Amarillo, Texas; R.R.
Hemminghaus, chairman, chief executive officer and president of Diamond
Shamrock, Inc., of San Antonio, Texas; and Don Maddox, an attorney and
director of the Maddox Law Firm, P.C., of Hobbs, N.M.

            SPS shareholders also approved an amendment to the Restated
Articles of Incorporation of SPS to provide for a new class of 10 million
shares of preferred stock, $1 par value, which may be issued in series with
such terms and conditions as may be set by SPS's board.  SPS currently has
no outstanding preferred stock.

            Southwestern Public Service Company provides electric service
to a population of about one million people in a 52,000-square-mile area
covering eastern and southeastern New Mexico, the South Plains and
Panhandle of Texas, the Oklahoma Panhandle and southwestern Kansas.
Through its Utility Engineering Corporation and Quixx Corporation
subsidiaries, the company also provides engineering and construction
management services to a variety of industries and invests in non-utility
power generation projects.  Corporate headquarters is in Amarillo, Texas.

            Public Service Company of Colorado is an electric, natural gas
and thermal energy utility, which serves a 32,000-square-mile area and a
population of approximately 2.8 million people in Colorado and the
Cheyenne, Wyo. area.