Oklahoma utility signs 20-year deals for 600 MW of wind energy

Public Service Co. of Oklahoma on Thursday said it had entered into three 20-year contracts to buy nearly 600 MW of wind power from a request for proposals it issued in June.
PSO says it signed 20-year renewable energy purchase agreements (REPAs) for a total 598.7 MW from three wind projects currently under development in Oklahoma. If approved by regulators, the contracts would provide PSO with energy beginning Jan. 1, 2016.

When deliveries of energy from the three new REPAs commence in 2016, PSO, a subsidiary of American Electric Power, will have a total 1,137 MW of wind under contract. The new series of 20-year agreements includes the following:

– 198.9 MW from Seiling Wind LLC, owned by NextEra Energy Resources and
located in Dewey County;

– 200 MW from the Goodwell Wind Project LLC, owned by TradeWind Energy and
located in Texas County; and

– 199.8 MW from Apex Clean Energy's 300 MW Balko Wind project, located in Beaver County. According to Apex, the development and construction of the Balko project will provide an estimated $430 million investment in the region, and the wind farm is expected to come online in 2015.
In the June solicitation, PSO, an American Electric Power subsidiary, had sought proposals for up to 200 MW. The utility in a statement said it decided to triple that amount because of “extraordinary pricing opportunities that will lower costs for PSO customers by an estimated $53 million in the first year of the contracts.”

Apex Clean Energy has signed a Renewable Energy Purchase Agreement (REPA) with the Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO), a subsidiary of American Electric Power (AEP), for 200 MW of wind energy from Apex