AEP Plans to Buy 1.5 Gigawatts of Wind Power in Oklahoma

The Public Service Co. of Oklahoma and Southwestern Electric Power Co. are seeking regulatory approval to buy three wind projects, with a combined capacity of 1,485 megawatts, that are being developed by Invenergy LLC in Oklahoma, according to a July 15 filing with the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.

The projects were selected through a competitive solicitation launched in January. The total investment in the wind portfolio would be nearly $2 billion, which is expected to save utility customers about $3 billion, net of costs, over 30 years. The proposal is subject to approval from Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas.

The selected portfolio consists of the 999-megawatt Traverse Wind, 287-megawatt Maverick Wind, and 199-megawatt Sundance Wind. SWEPCO would own about 55 of the projects and PSO would own the remainder. The smallest of these will be completed by the end of 2020, utilizing for the full production tax credit, while the other two would come online in 2021 qualifying for 80 percent of the federal tax incentive.

This is the second time in two years that the utilities, subsidiaries of  American Electric Power Company Inc., are proposing major investments in wind power, in a bid to utilities the expiring federal tax credits. Last July, AEP cancelled its proposed $4.5-billion, 2-gigawatt Wind Catcher Energy Connection Project in the Oklahoma Panhandle after it failed to clear the Texas Public Utility Commission. The project, which was scheduled to come online in 2020 and qualify for the federal tax credits, would have been the nation’s largest single-site wind farm.