OKLAHOMA CITY – Summit Utilities wants to build, own and operate a hydrogen blending facility in Cushing and is seeking approval from the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.
The company has not indicated what the cost might be, but filings with the commission indicate that if approved it would affect a typical residential customer’s bill by about 54 cents a month or $6.51 more a year.
Summit wants to produce “green” hydrogen fuel from the electrolysis of water. The company stated that there are no other sources of green hydrogen fuel currently produced and available within the Oklahoma region.
“Consequently, Summit Utilities Oklahoma seeks to self–build the project to provide its Oklahoma customers with benefits of developing learning for the use of a new, supplemental pipeline fuel, diversification of sources of gas supply and of using hydrogen fuel as a type of low carbon gas,” the company stated in a filing.
The firm said hydrogen fuel is substantially different from conventional gas supply sources and could “someday be an important supplemental source of low carbon gas that provides benefits not available from conventional fossil natural gas.”
The company maintains that the hydrogen project falls in line with the 2021 Oklahoma State Energy and Environment Plan, which was created to position the state to be a “Premier ‘all-of-the-above’ energy producer for many years to come.” Summit reported that it would contribute to Oklahoma’s hydrogen production goals and further position the state as a leader in the new industry.
“The project will utilize Oklahoma resources to build out and sustain this project, such as electricity from Cushing Municipal Electric Authority and renewable energy certificates from the Grand River Dam Authority,” testified Gina Mace, director of energy and environmental policy for Summit Utilities Inc.
Summit, a company with 625,000 customers in six states and operator of more than 23,400 miles of pipeline, wants to take advantage of the pipeline system that enters Cushing, a site known as the Cushing Hub.
“The nation’s pipeline system is well suited to moving and storing large quantities of energy, and using that system to support the growth of hydrogen production is a use case that can be deployed today.”
The company pointed out in its filings that the rules of the Corporation Commission regarding acquisition of gas supply do not cover the unique nature of hydrogen.
Summit acquired the natural gas assets of CenterPoint Energy Resources in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texarkana, Texas, two and a half years ago. The assets included approximately 17,000 miles of main pipeline in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texarkana, serving more than 500,000 residential and business customers.
Summit absorbed from CenterPoint almost 100,000 residential, commercial, industrial and transportation customers in 91 Oklahoma cities and towns.
Those include Lawton, Elgin, Fletcher, Sterling, Cache, Geronimo, Altus, Apache, Blair, Burns Flat, Chickasha, Comanche, Duke, Duncan, Mangum, Marlow, Martha, Olustee and Temple.
They also include Cushing, Ada, Arapaho, Blackwell, Canton, Cheyenne, Cromwell, Deer Creek, Earlsboro, Fairview, Garber, Hartshorne, Hominy, Mangum, McAlester, Medford, Nardin, Okeene, Seminole, Stringtown, Talihina, Tonkawa, Vance Air Force Base, Watonga, Weatherford, Wilburton and Wynona.