SWEPCO Addresses Renewable Energy Agreement

Electricity giant SWEPCO made a renewable energy announcement as part of a recent legal settlement, a move that prompted one environmental group to call for further action by Gov. Mike Beebe (D).

On Wednesday (Jan. 25) Southwestern Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO) said it signed long-term power purchase agreements for a total of 358.65 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy from wind projects in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

The projects are part of a legal settlement agreed to by SWEPCO with environmental groups regarding the controversial $1.7 billion John W. Turk power plant in Hempstead Co.

The agreements, which will more than quadruple SWEPCO’s wind energy portfolio, include:

• Three contracts totaling 201.25 MW from Canadian Hills Wind, LLC, owned by Apex Wind Energy Holdings, LLC and located in Canadian County, west of Oklahoma City, Okla.
• 79.6 MW from High Majestic Wind II, LLC, owned by NextEra Energy Resources, LLC and located in Carson and Potter Counties in the Texas Panhandle.
• 77.8 MW from Flat Ridge 2 Wind Energy, LLC, owned by BP Wind Energy and Sempra U.S. Gas and Power and located in Barber, Harper, Kingman and Sumner Counties, southwest of Wichita, Kan.
• Separately, OMPA, a co-owner of the Turk Plant, has signed a 25-year agreement for 49.2 MW from the Canadian Hills Wind project.

“With these long-term power purchase agreements, we have added a substantial amount of wind energy to serve SWEPCO customers in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas, and we have combined efforts with a Turk Plant partner to exceed the 400-megawatt commitment in our Turk Plant settlement,” said Nicholas K. Akins, president and CEO of American Electric Power, the parent company of SWEPCO.

Glen Hooks, senior campaign manager for the Sierra Club, which was one of the environmental groups involved in negotiating the Turk plant settlement, said his organization deserved partial credit for the SWEPCO action.

“The clean energy revolution is happening right now. Today, as a result of our recent legal settlement, hundreds of megawatts of clean wind energy will power homes and businesses in our region for the next 20 to 25 years.  Unlike dirty coal, which devastates our air, water, and communities, wind power produces zero pollution,” Hooks said.

He also called on Gov. Beebe to step up efforts to develop renewable energy projects in the Natural State.

“Unlike our neighboring states, Arkansas currently does not have wind energy production in place, although we are home to multiple factories that produce wind turbines and blades. If we did have wind energy production in place, SWEPCO could buy it from an Arkansas company. Instead, that money to purchase wind power went to out-of-state companies and jobs. As Governor Beebe works toward drafting the state’s energy plan, Sierra Club calls on him to aggressively pursue clean, renewable sources of energy for the Natural State.”

Beebe has declared in previous statements that Arkansas has few regions capable of producing consistent and large amounts of wind energy. He has pushed efforts to increase natural gas and biomass renewable energy production.