Power to the people

An Oklahoma utility continues to look for an inexpensive way it can get wind power into its grid.

Public Service Co. of Oklahoma will hold a series of community meetings later this month and in early February as it continues to develop a power line route it needs to get renewable energy to its grid.

The utility proposes to build a 765 kilovolt line capable of carrying 600 megawatts of power from the Wind Catcher wind farm in Oklahoma’s Panhandle to a PSO substation north of Tulsa.

Specifically, the meetings will invite public input on two alternative paths the utility proposes as the line approaches the Tulsa metropolitan area.

It originally sought to bring the power to the substation north of Tulsa by taking the line’s eastern segment mainly through Osage County.

The alternate paths bend the line further south at the Noble and Osage County line, ultimately taking the power to existing lines and rights of way PSO already owns.

Under one alternative, the utility still could get the power to its substation north of Tulsa via existing infrastructure leading there from a point between Mannford and Sand Springs.

The other alternative would be to get the power into the grid using a substation south of Jenks by using existing infrastructure between there and an area south of Sapulpa.

The utility plans to own part of the Wind Catcher wind farm and proposes to build the line because it believes its customers will benefit from lowercost electricity the project would provide.

The Wind Catcher wind farm could export power through a much shorter tie into existing power lines, but that wouldn’t benefit PSO’s customers like a direct tie would, because the utility would have to pay more to pull that power from the grid.

So, though PSO intends to spend more now to both secure right of way for its new line and to get it built, it expects the cheaper power it carries would reimburse its customers for those upfront costs, over time.

Could Clean Line help?

Getting renewable energy to places where it can be used appears to be a growing difficulty for both power providers and their customers.

The Wind Energy Foundation issued a report earlier this month that said current transmission plans aren’t keeping up.

It notes big companies are increasingly signing deals to buy wind and solar power, and that the large and growing demand may exceed the capacity of existing and planned transmission lines.

“This report demonstrates that there is an immediate need for transmission planners to account for the significant renewable energy goals of corporate purchasers,” stated John Kostyack, the foundation’s executive director, in a news release about the study.

PSO’s Wind Catcher project differs from the deals the foundation refers to, as it aims to acquire that more-affordable power for all of its customers from a wind generation facility it will co-own.

Another, similar power line proposal, the Eastern Clean Line, could help. In a case where PSO seeks preapproval to recover Wind Catcher costs from its customers, a representative of Eastern Clean Line Oklahoma LLC stated in his testimony it already had secured right of way for its project in the Sooner State.

“We have a construction-ready, long-haul transmission project that runs from the Oklahoma Panhandle to the east and have acquired easements on more than 750 parcels in Oklahoma,” Mario Hurtado, a Clean Line Energy Partners executive vice president, testified.

Hurtado said he was conveying two key points of information through his testimony: That the project could start getting built in 2018, and, that it could provide PSO with the power it hopes to transport with its proposed line.

Plus, that right of way might be available, given that Clean Line Energy Partners has paused its effort to get wind energy from Oklahoma’s Panhandle to the Southeast.

Meanwhile, that Oklahoma right of way has been sold to Next-Era Energy.

This week, PSO officials said they couldn’t confirm whether the utility is exploring the possibility of using Clean Line’s right of way.

But, Stan Whiteford, a spokesman for PSO, added, “All along, during this process, we have and will continue to look at all options that might lower overall costs of the project for our customers and expedite the construction schedule for that tie line.”

The meetings

PSO said its community meetings are essential to developing a route for the line to follow, noting it put together its initial plan after holding 11 open houses at locations across northern Oklahoma.

It revealed its initial route for the line earlier this month and announced it would hold additional open houses in Enid, Woodward and Pawnee the final week of January to make additional, minor refinements to the plan in those parts of Oklahoma.

As for the alternative routes on the line’s east end, it plans to hold open houses in Glenpool, Bristow and Cushing during the first week of February.

The Glenpool meeting will be held at the Glenpool Conference Center, 12205 S Yukon Ave. on Feb. 5, while the Bristow meeting will be held the following day at White Barn Events, 12875 S 305th W Avenue.

The Cushing meeting will be held Feb. 7 at Cushing High School, 1700 E Walnut.

Each of the meetings will run from 4 to 7 p.m., and will be workshops where guests can visit with project team members, review detailed maps and provide input.

Electrical planners, engineers, routing experts, right of way agents and construction representatives will be present to answer questions.

A news release PSO released earlier this month said the utility continues to work with local officials and landowners along its original proposed route.

The release indicated the utility encountered uncertainties involving the line’s eastern segment that present potential delays that could harm benefits it expects customers would receive from the project.

John Harper, PSO’s external affairs vice president, said the utility wants to secure a path that works well for both it and affected landowners without unnecessary delays.