OG&E's 'OU Spirit' Wind Farm Agreement Approved By OCC
26 November 2009 - 4:43AM
PR Newswire (US)
Farm to be fully operational by year-end; cost recovery as turbines
come online OKLAHOMA CITY, Nov. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
OG&E announced today that the Oklahoma Corporation Commission
has approved the OU Spirit wind farm project, clearing the way for
more renewable energy on the state's power grid. OG&E, the OCC
staff, office of the state Attorney General, Oklahoma Industrial
Energy Consumers and OG&E Shareholders Association had
previously asked the Commission to approve terms of an agreement
which allows OG&E to start recovering the costs of the new wind
farm as it begins production. The Commission order approved the
agreement which also assigns to OG&E's customers the proceeds
from the sales of the wind farm's renewable energy credits,
including credits purchased by the University of Oklahoma. OU
Spirit, a 101-megawatt electric generating facility, has been under
construction this year and is nearing completion near Woodward,
Okla. "We applaud our state regulators for their support of this
project that adds to Oklahoma's renewable energy portfolio in a way
that benefits our customers, the university, and our entire state,"
said Howard Motley, OG&E vice president for regulatory affairs.
"We also appreciate OU for its leadership, demonstrated by such a
strong commitment to renewable energy." OU has said it expects the
new wind farm to help the university's Norman campus achieve a goal
to have all of its purchased energy be from renewable sources by
2013. It is one of the largest renewable energy commitments ever by
a public university. A temporary addition, or rider, to OG&E
customers' monthly electric bills, will enable the company to begin
recovering construct costs as each of the wind farm's 44 new
turbines comes online and begins delivering electricity to
OG&E's customers. The rider will be in effect until the OU
Spirit facility is added to OG&E's regulated rate base as part
of a general rate case expected to be completed in 2011 will end
the temporary rider. The net impact on the average residential
customer's 2010 electric bill should be approximately 90 cents per
month, decreasing to 80 cents per month in 2011. OG&E today
provides its customers with 170 megawatts of wind power from the
Sooner and Centennial wind farms in northwestern Oklahoma; OU
Spirit will bring the total to 270. Separately, OG&E is asking
for Commission approval of two additional wind power projects
totaling 280 megawatts that could come online by 2012. The 550 MW
of wind-generation capability would represent about 7.6 percent of
OG&E's total generating capacity. OG&E, a regulated
electric utility with more than 776,000 customers in a service area
spanning 30,000 square miles in Oklahoma and western Arkansas, is a
subsidiary of Oklahoma City-based OGE Energy Corp. (NYSE:OGE),
which also is the parent of Enogex LLC, a midstream natural gas
pipeline business with principal operations in Oklahoma.
DATASOURCE: OG&E CONTACT: Media, Brian Alford, +1-405-553-3187,
or Financial, Todd Tidwell, +1-405-553-3966, both of OG&E
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