American Electric Power-backed Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) has asked the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) to approve its fuel-free power plan to purchase three new wind farms and three new solar facilities.
This proposed plan will help meet projected power needs while protecting customers from volatility in energy costs driven by high natural gas and power prices.
The fuel-free power plan would fund the purchase of a total of 995.5MW of new, cost-effective renewable energy and includes a total Investment of $2.47bn. The six projects were chosen through a competitive bidding process.
The projects are the 265MW Lazbuddie wind in Texas and the 189MW Pixley solar in Kansas, which are expected to be completed in April 2025.
Another four facilities are scheduled for completion in December 2025. These are the 135MW Flat Ridge IV wind, 153MW Flat Ridge V wind, the 103.5MW Chisholm Trail solar, all in Kansas, and the 150MW Algodon solar in Texas.
These resources will help provide long-term stability in electricity costs, insulating customers from future market price volatility of natural gas and purchased power through the addition of fuel-free power generation.
After all the facilities are online by the end of 2025, an average residential customer would see an estimated initial monthly bill increase of $3.48 (2.6%).
Due to ongoing market volatility, it is difficult to project the precise impact on customer bills as prices will continue to fluctuate based on variables like supply chain issues and fuel costs.
The additional generating capacity is needed to meet the energy needs of PSO customers. That need has increased due to new rules from the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) that require utilities to have available additional generation capacity to support reliability.
“At PSO we understand the importance of providing affordable service and through this plan, we are excited to keep delivering on that commitment to our customers,” said PSO President and Chief Operating Officer Leigh Anne Strahler.
“This investment in fuel-free power is another step in our efforts to shield our customers against high costs while meeting their energy needs.”