8-K

              UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                       WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

                             FORM 8-K
                          CURRENT REPORT

            PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE
               SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934


Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): February 7, 1997


                  SOUTHWESTERN PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY
          (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

        New Mexico                      1-3789               75-0575400
(State or other jurisdiction of    (Commission File No.)   (I.R.S. Employer
 incorporation or organization)                           Identification No.)

                  Tyler at Sixth, Amarillo, Texas 79101
         (Address of principal executive offices)  (Zip Code)

Registrant's Telephone Number, including area code (806) 378-2121



ITEM 5. other events

         Reference is made to the press release  filed as an exhibit  hereto for
information  with  respect  to  the  Company's  recorded  charge  related  to  a
subsidiary project.

ITEM 7. financial statements and exhibits

         (c)  Exhibits. The following exhibits are filed herewith:

               99   Press Release, dated February 7, 1997, of Southwestern
                    Public Service Company.


SIGNATURES

         Pursuant to the  requirements  of the Securities  Exchange Act of 1934,
the  registrant  has duly  caused  this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.



         SOUTHWESTERN PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY


                  /s/ Bill D. Helton
         By
                  Bill D. Helton
                  Chairman and Chief Executive Officer



DATE:   February 7, 1997

EX-99

SPS Records Charge Related to Subsidiary Project

         Southwestern  Public Service Company (NYSE: SPS) today reported it will
record a one-time,  after-tax charge of 25 cents per common share for the period
ended Dec.  31,  1996,  to  write-off  the $16 million  investment  of its Quixx
Corporation  subsidiary  in the  BCH  waste-to-energy  cogeneration  project  in
Fayetteville, N.C.
         The BCH  project had been  accepting  municipal  waste for a year,  but
experienced   operating  problems  primarily  related  to  deficiencies  in  the
waste-fuel handling system. Quixx, other equity owners, senior creditors and the
constructor  have been unable to restructure  the project on mutually  agreeable
terms. Banks providing debt financing to the project have withheld funds for BCH
and for a companion  waste-to-energy  facility,  the Carolina  Energy Project in
Kinston,  N. C. In the  judgment  of SPS and Quixx  management,  Quixx's  equity
investment  in BCH,  representing  49 percent  ownership  in the  facility,  and
related accounts receivable and expenses are unlikely to be recovered.
         SPS also notes that Quixx has an equity  investment  of $13.2  million,
representing  approximately  21 cents per SPS common  share,  after tax,  in the
Carolina  Energy  Project.  Construction  at the  Kinston  facility,  originally
scheduled  to  be  completed  later  this  year,  has  been  halted  pending  an
independent  analysis of the  project's  viability.  Quixx's  investment  equals
one-third ownership interest.
         Southwestern Public Service Company primarily 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. Corporate headquarters is
in Amarillo,  Texas.

For more information:
 News media: Ken Vaughn, Manager of Communication, (806) 378-2116. 
 Security analysts: Jim Steinhilper, Group Manager of Finance, (806) 378-2843.