Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO), a subsidiary of American Electric Power, has received approval from Arkansas regulators to add 810MW of wind energy from three projects.
The Arkansas Public Service Commission (APSC) on 5 May modified and approved provisions of a unanimous settlement agreement filed by the APSC General Staff, the Office of Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, Walmart, and SWEPCO.
SWEPCO president and chief operating officer Malcolm Smoak said: “We are excited for this opportunity to bring more clean, low-cost renewable energy to our Arkansas customers. The APSC has demonstrated a strong commitment to renewable energy.”
SWEPCO is proposing to acquire three wind farms in north central Oklahoma – known as the North Central Energy Facilities – in conjunction with its sister company, Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO).
Pending other regulatory approvals, SWEPCO will own 810MW, or 54.5% of the 1485MW cluster with an investment of $1.01bn.
SWEPCO and PSO will acquire the projects on completion in 2020 and 2021 and supply power from them to customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma.
Smoak said: “We know this project is important to many of our customers – like Walmart, the City of Fayetteville, the University of Arkansas and many other companies, communities and individuals – who are looking to SWEPCO to help them meet their own sustainability and renewable energy goals.”
SWEPCO is also seeking approval of its proposal from utility regulators in Louisiana and Texas.
Two states that approve the projects would have the ability to increase the number of megawatts allocated to them if one state does not approve the proposal.
As approved by the APSC, the Arkansas share of the project is estimated to be 155MW and could increase to 268MW depending on regulatory approvals in Louisiana and Texas.
SWEPCO and all Louisiana parties reached a unanimous settlement agreement in March 2020 with a final decision pending at the Louisiana Public Service Commission.
The parties are continuing to work through the regulatory process in Texas.
PSO received final Oklahoma Corporation Commission approval on 20 February of a settlement agreement in its plan to add 675MW of wind energy, or 45.5% of the 1485MW project.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved the acquisition of the wind facilities by SWEPCO and PSO.
The APSC’s modification to the settlement agreement specified that cost recovery for the project will be through the company’s formula rates. All parties accepted the modification on 8 May.
SWEPCO serves more than 536,300 customers in three states, including 119,800 in Arkansas, 231,000 in Louisiana and 185,500 in Texas.