Corporation Commission to consider Ft. Sill energy center

Oklahoma regulators meet Tuesday to consider the request of Public Service Company of Oklahoma to build a nearly $118 million energy center at Fort Sill, a center opposed by an administrative law judge and Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter.

The Corporation Commission received the recommendation last week of Administrative Law Judge Dustin R. Murer who determined that PSO’s proposed 30-year lease agreement to build the solar and gas-fired electric generation operation on the military post put “customers at too much risk and is against the public interest.” He also claimed the center failed to address the utility and its customers’  “need for long-term capacity.”

The judge also stated that in his opinion, the utility failed to meet the burden of considering reasonable alternatives to the project. His recommendation came after holding hearings in March.

Attorney General Mike Hunter’s office said PSO’s objections to the ALJ’s recommendations “fail to respond to the core factual problem with their application which is the significant incremental cost incurred.”

The Attorney General also argued that natural gas units proposed as part of the project would “lead to substantial incremental costs that cannot be fairly allocated to PSO’s ratepayers.”

In his conclusion against the cost recovery, the Attorney General stated:

“The overwhelming body of evidence shows that PSO designed the FSEC project for, with, and around the very specific goals of Ft. Sill. The constraints imposed on the proposed project by those goals create substantially higher incremental costs compared to alternative capacity options. PSO’s captive customers should not be burdened with paying a premium for capacity in these
circumstances. For these reasons, the Attorney General does not oppose the Commission granting PSO’s request for preapproval, but he opposes PSO’s proposed cost recovery because it results in
an inappropriate and unfair cost allocation to PSO’s customer base.”

In response, PSO found the opposition puzzling and stated the most concerning conclusion was the finding that the project provided everything for Ft. Sill  and “very little capacity to ratepayers in return.”

PSO leadership had testified before the ALJ that the project was needed to provide electricity to the Army Post in order for it to train those who protect the country.

It also pointed out that a similar agreement exists between OG&E and Tinker Air Force Base. PSO had hoped to begin construction this fall with the solar panel project operational in 2022 and the gas-fired generator online in late 2023.

Attorney General Mike Hunter’s office also questioned the need for the center as did the

Once completed, the energy center which would be built and made secure on the Army post would allow Fort Sill to operate for 14 days without being connected to a standard electric grid in the event of an emergency.

The Corporation Commission meeting begins at 1:30 p.m.