Arkansas, Oklahoma Cooperatives Team Up On Solar Pact

Arkansas Electric Cooperatives Inc.’s renewable energy subsidiary has reached an agreement to provide solar power to a three-county electric cooperative in the Oklahoma Panhandle.

The deal announced on Wednesday calls for AECI’s Today’s Power Inc. (TPI) group to provide a one-megawatt AC solar portfolio for Tri-County Electric Cooperative (TCEC) of Hooker, Okla., located in the far northwestern corner of the Sooner State.

The Oklahoma cooperative said it plans to offer its members the opportunity to purchase solar energy produced by the system through its new community solar program.

“TCEC is dedicated to providing our members with reliable electricity in a cost-effective manner,” said Jack Perkins, chief executive officer of TCEC, a 23,000 meter system. “Our board works to meet the needs of our membership both today and in the future.”

TPI President Michael Henderson said the solar project is a photovoltaic system provided by Minneapolis, Minn.-based tenKsolar Inc., which owns a proprietary technology to design, manufacture and market high-efficiency rooftop solar units. The Arkansas cooperative signed an exclusive deal with tenKsolar in February to sell commercial-grade solar photovoltaic units across its six-state distribution footprint.

“Our solar offering provides maximum energy density and requires approximately 40% less space than traditional systems,” Henderson said, adding that TPI’s structure effectively provides a 30 percent discount below the installed cost.

Tri-County’s solar facility is projected to generate 50,473,300 per kilowatt hours (kWhs) and prevent 40,379 tons of carbon emissions over its 25-year useful life. “TPI’s solution is a relatively low capital investment system compared to other industry offerings that require higher capital level outlays that simply increase the end power cost to consumers,” Henderson said. “(It is) a great answer for organizations searching for a reliable, affordable community, commercial and utility-scale solar energy solution.”

Little Rock-based AECI is the utility service operation for the Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp., the 17-member electric distribution cooperative that provides electricity to approximately 500,000 homes, farms and businesses in Arkansas and surrounding states. TPI is a wholly owned subsidiary of AECI that is an authorized distributor and installer for solar photovoltaic units in Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Missouri.

The deal with Tri-County continues the electric cooperative’s expansion into the fast-growing renewable energy sector as Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations are changing the dynamics of the state’s power sector.

Last week, Entergy Arkansas Inc. proposed to shut down its coal-fired operations at the White Bluff Electric Station in Jefferson County by 2030 in response to the EPA’s costlier plan to install scrubbers atop the smokestacks of the power plant by 2021.

White Bluff is a two-unit, coal-fired plant that produces 1,659 megawatts of energy, enough power for nearly 1.5 million Arkansas homes. In operation since 1980, Entergy owns 57% of the plant. The plant’s other co-owners include AECC with 35%, Jonesboro with 5%, Conway with two percent, and West Memphis the other one percent.