OG&E wind farm gains regulatory approval

Tulsa Business Staff
7/30/2010

OG&E announced yesterday that the Oklahoma Corporation Commission has approved a settlement agreement reached by all parties to the company's application to build and operate a new wind farm in northwestern Oklahoma. Known as "Crossroads," the wind farm is expected to be running in the second half of 2011.

"This is a good outcome resulting from collaboration of the various parties interested in the expansion of renewable energy in Oklahoma," said Jesse Langston, vice president of utility commercial operations for OG&E. "We reached unanimous agreement with customer and shareholder groups, state agencies and regulatory officials, which culminated in today's 3-0 Commission vote to approve the Crossroads project."

Crossroads, to be built in Dewey County near Canton, will add at least 198 megawatts of renewable generation. Pending the results of a Southwest Power Pool regional transmission study, today's Commission order allows for Crossroads to be constructed with up to 227 megawatts of generating capacity. Average residential customers could see an increase in their monthly bills of somewhere between 59 and 65 cents per month when Crossroads is in full production in 2012. Beginning in 2013 or 2014, the lower-cost energy produced by Crossroads is expected to result in a net decrease in average monthly residential electric bills and to reduce customer bills every year the wind farm is in operation.

The new wind farm, to be constructed by Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc., will have at least 86 Siemens turbines rated at 2.3 megawatts each and will connect with OG&E's new Windspeed transmission line to Oklahoma City, which was energized earlier this year.

In 2007, when OG&E had 170 megawatts of wind energy on its system, the company set a goal to quadruple that amount by 2012. Today, OG&E has 270 megawatts of wind power capacity, with projects under construction that will bring the total to 550 megawatts this year. With the addition of the Crossroads project, the company will have at least 750 megawatts of wind capacity; approximately 10 percent of OG&E's total from all sources, including natural gas and coal.

OG&E, which serves approximately 779,000 customers in a service territory spanning 30,000 square miles in Oklahoma and western Arkansas, is a subsidiary of Oklahoma City-based OGE Energy Corp., which also is the parent company of Enogex LLC, a midstream natural gas pipeline business with principal operations in Oklahoma. RES Americas has been active in North America since 1997 and during this time has developed and/or constructed more than 3,800 MW, with another 1,000 MW currently under construction.

PSO Signs New Wind Power Agreement

Tulsa Business Staff
7/16/2010

Customers of Public Service Co. of Oklahoma, a subsidiary of American Electric Power, may soon have new options for the purchase of renewable energy as the result of an agreement reached with NextEra Energy Resources for the long-term purchase of 99 megawatts of renewable energy from a wind farm currently under construction near Minco.

If approved by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, a portion of the electricity generated at the Minco wind farm will be set aside specifically for PSO customers who want to purchase more of their power from renewable resources.

“There is an interest on the part of some PSO customers to be able to have a certain portion, if not all, of their energy coming from renewable energy resources,” said Kathy Champion, PSO’s consumer programs manager. “The addition of this new wind energy resource will provide PSO the opportunity to address our customers’ preferences to have more electric energy from renewable resources and will allow individual customers to decide how much renewable energy will be used to serve their loads.”

PSO is proposing a voluntary program that allows customers to designate the amount of their energy requirement that will be provided by renewables. The program will allow customers to buy their preferred number of fixed kilowatt-hours blocks. Every block would equal 100 kWh. Customers may elect to purchase from a minimum of one block a month up to a maximum of 100 percent of their monthly use.

Champion said PSO chose this format because of the certainty block pricing gives to customers, ease in pricing and billing under the plan and ability to track the results of the program.

The program will also be the first in Oklahoma to have the Green-E certification. Green-E is a nationally recognized, independent certification process that provides, among other things, certainty to the claims of the green utility price offering.

“PSO believes offering a Green-E certified program will add credibility to our program, and we are excited to be the first in Oklahoma to pursue this certification,” Champion said.