The purchase of three Oklahoma wind farms to provide electrical power to Louisiana customers of Southwestern Electric Company Company was approved this week by the Louisiana Public Service Commission.
According to a release from the Alliance for Affordable Energy, SWEPCO, which is a subsidiary of AEP, received approval from LPSC to purchase three new wind facilities in Oklahoma totaling 1,485 MW in nameplate capacity.
The facilities will be co-owned with another AEP subsidiary, Public Service Company of Oklahoma and serve customers in Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana.
The 810 MW of nameplate capacity is slated for SWEPCO jurisdictional customers, and up to 464 MW for Louisiana customers.
The approval comes after a non-contested settlement agreement among stakeholders in Louisiana, including the Alliance for Affordable Energy, Walmart, Inc., the LPSC Staff and SWEPCO, the release states.
Terms of the settlement include a cost cap, utilization of the federal Production Tax Credit, a Net Capacity Factor guarantee and, most importantly, a Net Benefits guarantee.
Additionally, the company says it has committed to acquiring up to 200 MW of solar, located within SWEPCO’s Louisiana territory, within the next three years, as well as committed to exploring alternatives to transmission line construction which may be needed to serve the facility in the future.
Source: KATC TV News
