OKLAHOMA CITY — As might be expected, Public Service Company of Oklahoma’s $2.47 billion “fuel-free” power plan has been praised and panned.
Several PSO customers expressed their opinions to the regulatory Corporation Commission. Environmental and aesthetic issues, financial costs, reliability of wind and solar power versus natural gas, and economic development potential, were the primary factors mentioned.
One 70-year-old PSO customer complained about increasing utility bills.
“My bill has gone up by about $100 per month. We keep the thermostat on 66 in the winter and 78 in summer. I planned to retire last year, but as a result of this economy, politically and energy-driven, I continue to work, as well as my 73-year-old sister.”
He also argued against more wind farms, contending that where he lives in western Oklahoma he cannot see stars at night and birds are being killed by the turbines.
Another PSO customer, Chris Cook, wrote that he does not support additional wind and solar energy.
“Without government subsidies they do not make economic sense. They are harmful to the environment on several levels including disposal, threat to endangered fowl, and being an eyesore blight on the landscape. I am not willing to pay a premium for these misguided projects and want to be exempted from any additional charges.”
In contrast, the superintendent of Ringwood Public Schools wrote to say, “We greatly appreciate PSO and their commitment to rural Oklahoma.”
PSO is part-owner of the Maverick Wind Farm southwest of Enid, in Major County, and Ringwood is “fortunate enough to have some of their turbines in our district,” Superintendent Wade Detrick wrote.
This past year a bond issue was passed to remodel Ringwood’s junior high and high school buildings. “With the cost of construction, due to inflation we had to bond a million dollars more than in previous years. The increase in tax revenue from the Maverick Wind Farm has made this possible.”
In addition, Detrick continued, PSO “has provided KidWind professional development opportunities to our students, supported the Ringwood FFA program, and participated in our school’s Career Fair.”
“As a customer of PSO, I strongly object to charging customers for the cost of building 3 wind farms and 3 solar facilities,” wrote Ruth Faltisko. “Not only are they costing more, but they don’t last and are not good for the environment and end up destroying land and wildlife. No way should the customers foot the bill for this ‘green’ waste of money.”
Gary Reasnor protested granting PSO the cost recovery.
“If the proposal was in the best interest of consumers then it would be financially viable without rate increases. Why should PSO customers pay more for constructing infrastructure that is substantially less reliable than existing infrastructure?”
Renewable energy is an important factor in economic development
“Access to new renewable energy offerings for prospective companies looking to locate in my community and in Oklahoma is becoming more important,” wrote Yolanda Creswell, economic development director for the City of Weatherford.
Economic development prospects and site selection firms regularly ask about “renewable programs, future energy plans, and energy makeup while completing their site selection due-diligence,” Creswell said. PSO’s renewable plans “make Oklahoma more competitive in economic development.”
Michael Southard, economic development director for the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, echoed Creswell.
“The importance of access to new renewable energy offerings for prospective companies is becoming increasingly important,” Southard wrote. “The availability of renewable energy and REC [renewable energy certificate] programs from PSO has provided Oklahoma, and specifically my community partners, a competitive advantage on past economic development projects.”
Economic development prospects “frequently request information regarding fuel mix, available renewable programs, and future energy production plans while they are evaluating our sites for new operations,” Southard said.
Jon Dante opposed the utility company’s project, arguing the 2021 winter storm in Texas “shone a light on the unreliability of these sources of electricity.”
Wind turbines and solar facilities “do not produce sufficient power to pay for themselves over the life of the installation,” Dante wrote. Solar panels and blades from wind turbines “cannot be recycled and therefore end up in landfills at the end of their life cycle, causing pollution that harms our environment.”
Access to new renewable energy offerings for our business “is critical in our own goals to reach Net Zero by 2030 and in keeping us competitive as more and more of our customers demand their suppliers produce by using renewable energies,” wrote Brandy Moore, general manager, global air heat exchangers, Alfa Laval Inc. in Broken Arrow.
‘I am disgusted’ with rate hikes
Brenda Kitchens was not in favor of what she labeled “another of PSO’s so-called saving measures.”
“We are retired on a fixed income and after the previous rate hikes, to say I am disgusted with PSO is an understatement. Let them find the money somewhere else, not saddle the people of Oklahoma with their debt.”
The Indian Nations Council of Governments supported the PSO plan.
INCOG houses the Tulsa Air Quality and Tulsa Area Clean Cities programs, “which serve to educate the pubic about air quality issues and implement projects that prevent harmful emissions from entering our airshed,” INCOG Executive Director Rich Brierre wrote.
In 2022, the Tulsa region experienced “one of the most challenging ozone seasons in over a decade, which has sparked concern for the area’s continued attainment of National Ambient Air Quality Standards,” Brierre said.
PSO’s “fuel-free” plan will allow for growth in power demand “while preventing an increase in emissions from that added capacity,” he wrote. The fuel-free power plan also will “help protect ratepayers from volatile energy costs driven by fluctuating natural gas prices, a risk that has been acutely revealed in the aftermath of Winter Storm Uri in 2021.”
Laurie Plank argued against the project, calling wind and solar farms an “eyesore.”
“We are a state rich in oil and gas. We should be expanding drilling to increase electricity production or seek out natural gas purchases from other states,” which would be “a much more cost effective and reliable method of producing electricity.”
The Tulsa Zoo “utilizes utility infrastructure to create beautiful living environments for some of the most critically endangered species on earth,” wrote Lindsay Hutchison, president and CEO of the zoo.
Also, when a contractor’s oversight “left us with a severed feeder during the coldest night recorded” this year, crews from PSO “exceeded their own estimates for power restoration.” Zoo guests and its animals “were none the wiser for the flurry of activity that kept everything running.”
In addition, Hutchison recalled, PSO and its contracting partners “spearheaded a much-needed upgrade to some of our aged transformers and switches,” improvements that will “pay dividends for years to come…”
Jerry Bohnen from OK Energy Today contributed to this report.