Southwestern Electric Power Co. of Shreveport, which has about 120,000 power customers in Arkansas, has reached a deal with the Louisiana Public Service Commission staff, the Alliance for Affordable Energy and Walmart Inc. to add 810 megawatts of wind energy to the utility’s generation capacity.
Swepco and a sister company, Public Service of Oklahoma, plan to acquire three large wind farms in north-central Oklahoma known as North Central Energy Facilities. The plan is designed to take its scale from decisions by the utility regulators in several states, including Arkansas. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved the purchase of the wind facilities by Swepco and PSO, the company statement said.
“The parties are continuing to work through the regulatory process in Texas in the hope that our customers in East Texas and the Panhandle can benefit from this low-cost energy while helping businesses and other customers meet their renewable energy goals,” Albert Smoak, SWEPCO president and COO, said.
Two states that approve the project would have the ability to increase the megawattage allocated to them if a third state turns down the proposal.
Swepco serves 536,300 customers in the three states: 231,000 in northwest and central Louisiana, 185,500 in Texas and 119,800 in Arkansas.
AEP’s family of companies includes utilities AEP Ohio; AEP Texas; Appalachian Power (in Virginia and West Virginia); AEP Appalachian Power (in Tennessee); Indiana Michigan Power; Kentucky Power; as well as PSO and Swepco.
