OG&E gets approval for 280MW in wind power

Both wind farms are expected to be in production by year-end. The Commission approved 20-year power-purchase agreements, under which the developers will build, own and operate the wind farms and OG&E will purchase their electric output.

"This process began with competitive bids for more renewable energy, proceeded to successful negotiation of projects that will deliver the best-available value to our customers, and now has earned the approval of the Corporation Commission," said OG&E spokesman Brian Alford. "With these regulatory orders in hand, we now look forward to doubling the amount of wind power on our system."

OG&E has 270 megawatts of wind energy capacity in production today at the Centennial, Sooner, and OU Spirit wind farms, all in northwestern Oklahoma near Woodward.

With the addition of the two new wind power facilities to be built this year, OG&E will have a total of 550 megawatts of wind energy generation capacity – enough to power 125,000 homes on a typical day.

OG&E expects to continue expanding its wind power portfolio to approximately 770 megawatts by 2012.

OG&E, which serves more than 776,000 customers in a service territory spanning 30,000 square miles in Oklahoma and western Arkansas, is a subsidiary of Oklahoma City-based OGE Energy Corp., which also is the parent company of Enogex LLC, a midstream natural gas pipeline business with principal operations in Oklahoma.

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