SWEPCO Lights More Homes In Northwest Arkansas Area

Northwest Arkansas

by Talk Business & Politics ([email protected]) August 10, 1998 12:00 am 126 views 

Southwestern Electric Power Co. serves more customers and takes in more revenue than other electric utilities serving the region, but Oklahoma Gas & Electric Co. earns more revenue per customer.

Figures compiled by the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal show that SWEPCO, which serves 63,441 customers in the region, reported revenues of $111.9 million in 1997 for that area.

OG&E reported revenues of $109.8 million for the year with customers totaling 59,096. But at $1,858 per customer, that compares favorably with SWEPCO’s $1,763 per customer.

Ozarks Electric Cooperative Corp. reported revenues of $47.3 million with 46,326 customers and per-customer revenues of $1,009.08 while Carroll Electric Cooperative Corp. had revenues of $43.3 million with 50,017 customers. Its per-customer revenues for the year were $1,085.

The cooperatives’ per-customer revenues were lower than that of the other utilities because they have fewer industrial customers.

Arkansas Western Gas took in revenues of $108 million from 125,344 customers in Arkansas in 1997. The utility, which is owned by Fayetteville-based Southwestern Energy Co., took in revenues of $864 per customer. It is the only natural gas utility serving the region.

SWEPCO is a subsidiary of Central and South West Corp., which expects to merge with American Electric Power Co., although regulatory approval is still pending. Shareholders of both companies approved the merger in June, but regulators aren’t expected to complete their investigation into the merger until early 1999. Shares of both companies trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

The two cooperatives, Carroll and Ozarks, are owned by their customers. Those utilities trace their origins to the Rural Electrification Act, passed by Congress during the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration to bring electricity to rural areas of the country. As a result of boundaries established by state law during the 1950s, the cooperatives now have urban as well as rural customers.