Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) and Southwestern Electric Power Company (Swepco) are seeking regulatory approvals to purchase three projects that are currently under development.
The utilities selected the projects as part of a competitive request for proposals (RfP) for 1.2GW launched in January 2019 — six months after AEP scrapped plans for its 2GW Wind Catcher project in Oklahoma.
If their acquisitions are approved, they would invest nearly $2 billion in the projects.
The three projects PSO and Swepco plan to buy from Invenergy are:
- a 999MW project north of Weatherford in central Oklahoma to be completed by the end of 2021;
- a 287MW project south-west of Enid in north Oklahoma to be completed by the end of 2021;
- and a 199MW project south of Alva in north Oklahoma to be completed by the end of 2020.
They currently have a combined capacity of 1,485MW.
The three projects will be connected to the Southewest Power Pool regional grid (SPP) and serve AEP customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.
AEP’s subsidiaries will require regulatory approval in the four states for the acquisition, as well as from the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
If the purchase is approved as proposed, Swepco would own 810MW (approximately 55%) of the portfolio, and PSO the 675MW (45%) remainder. AEP has not explained how these shares would be divided between the projects.
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