Electric Cooperatives Adds Another Wind Energy Agreement

The Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. (AECC) has secured another long-term agreement for more wind power, this time purchasing 108 megawatts of wind energy from the planned Drift Sand Wind Farm.

The farm will be located about 60 miles southeast of Oklahoma City and is scheduled to be in service by Dec. 31, 2016.

“AECC will be the sole recipient of energy from this wind farm,” said Duane Highley, president and CEO of AECC, a Little Rock-based wholesale electricity supplier. “Collectively, AECC will have more than 309 megawatts of wind energy once the new wind farm is commercially launched. As a not-for-profit, member-owned cooperative, we are committed to provide our members with the lowest cost electricity available.”

This is AECC’s third wind power purchase agreement since 2012. The generation and transmission cooperative also receives wind energy from another wind facility in Oklahoma and one in Kansas.

“The wind energy agreements provide our distribution cooperatives and their members with energy resources that are geographically diverse, reasonably-priced and price-controlled over a long-term period,” Highley said. “AECC has long been dedicated to pursuing investments in a diverse generation portfolio to shield members against fuel cost spikes and shifts in federal energy policies.”

AECC owns three run-of-the-river hydroelectric generating stations located along the Arkansas River, three natural gas/oil-based plants, four natural gas-based-only plants and co-owns portions of four low-cost coal-based plants.