With the recent approval of state regulators, Public Service Company of Oklahoma officially took control of the ‘Green Country’ power plant in Jenks.
The $730 million acquisition was endorsed a month ago by the Corporation Commission on a 2-1 vote. Commissioners Kim David and Brian Bingman voted aye but Commissioner Todd Hiett voted nay.
An increase in customer utility bills to retire the debt will start to appear soon. “The average residential customer using 1,100 kilowatt-hours per month will see an increase of $7.19 on their total bill no earlier than August 2025,” said Matt Rahn, PSO’s region communications manager. “In 2026 that average impact will drop to $6.47.”
In announcing its takeover, PSO proclaimed that the 795-megawatt natural gas plant “will deliver dependable, cost-effective electricity to homes and businesses across the state” while PSO is “enhancing energy reliability for its customers by becoming the full owner and operator of the Green Country power plant.”
Beyond strengthening grid reliability, Rahn said, the purchase is “expected to generate substantial local benefits.” Increased ad valorem tax revenue from the power plant “will directly support Tulsa County schools, public services, and job creation – further reinforcing PSO’s commitment to the communities it serves,” he said.
With the Jenks plant integrated into PSO’s generation portfolio, “PSO customers are served by a diverse mix of generation resources that support our state’s energy goals,” Rahn said.
PSO said the June 4 approval by state regulators will allow the utility to also meet the growing energy needs of the communities it serves.
“A huge amount of power will be needed in the near future,” said David, who chairs the commission. She mentioned the $4 billion aluminum smelter expected to be built at the Port of Inola as an example.
Matthew Horeled, vice president of regulatory and finance for PSO, testified previously that the utility has “a number of customers” who have indicated they will need “new large loads” of power in the near future. Those transactions with PSO “represent an additional 779 megawatts of load growth.”
Paul Demmy, resource planning lead for AEP Service Corporation, testified that the load growth will begin this year and “ramp up” year over year.
Commissioner David said that any excess capacity from the Green Country power plant that PSO doesn’t use “will be sold by PSO on the open market.”
Public Service Co. inked a purchase sale agreement (PSA) with J-Power, owner of the 795-megawatt Jenks electricity generating plant, on June 28, 2024. PSO assumes the 23-year-old power plant, which has three natural gas-fired generating units, has a remaining lifespan of 30 years.
The purchase price was $730 million ($918 per kilowatt), according to Richard F. Chandler, managing director of regulated infrastructure development for American Electric Power Service Corp., a subsidiary of PSO’s parent company, American Electric Power Co.
The utility sought commission permission on Sept. 16, 2024, to begin recovering up to $753 million, “the approximate full-in price” for acquisition of the Jenks power plant, via a “rider” – a surcharge on customer bills – until those expenses can be incorporated into the base rates in PSO’s next general rate case.
That case will be filed a short time after Jan. 1, 2026, company officials announced.
State regulators approved the “recovery of return and depreciation expenses in the rider” but limited the amount that can be shifted to ratepayers to “the contractual price of $730 million.”
“Today represents a major step forward in our mission to serve our customers,” PSO President Leigh Anne Strahler said on June 30. “The Green Country Power Plant will play an important role in delivering reliable power to support Oklahoma homes and businesses while ensuring grid stability and supporting the state’s economic growth.” Hiett dissented Hiett dissented from the commission’s approval order because the acquisition included no “customer protections due to the increased risks associated with this purchase.” For example, the combined cycle electricity generating plant is already 23 years old; PSO estimates it still has a 30-year life span. Hiett also expressed concern about PSO’s projected $138 million in Green Country operation and maintenance expenses over the next three decades years.
PSO attorney Jack Fite dismissed the “angst over a 23-year-old power plant.” He pointed to PSO’s Comanche power plant at Lawton. “Even though the unit is old, it doesn’t require extraordinary amounts of operation-and-maintenance or capital investment.”
After receiving written and oral testimony, Administrative Law Judge Carly M. Ortel recommended that the three Corporation Commissioners deny PSO’s request for preapproval of the purchase and cost recovery. “The final costs attributed to Green Country that will be passed on to ratepayers” if the commission approves PSO’s application “are unreasonable and largely unknown,” Ortel asserted. “[A] nd while it has an estimated remaining life of 30 years, that is not guaranteed.”
“ Every intervenor in this case (the Attorney General, AARP, the Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Industrial Energy Consumers, and the Corporation Commission’s Public Utility Division) each took the position that the Commission should either deny PSO’s request for preapproval of Green Country in full or should only grant the preapproval subject to conditions,” Hiett noted.
The administrative law judge recommended denial of PSO’s request for preapproval of the purchase and cost recovery.
The Attorney General’s office recommended that the commission include a purchase price recovery cost cap, a capital spending cost cap, an operations and maintenance cost cap, a value guarantee, and an energy cost savings guarantee. The commission majority required none of those.
With the acquisition of the Green Country generating plant, PSO has about 4,400 megawatts of generating capacity, including wind and natural gas. It also maintains and operates more than 20,000 miles of distribution lines and 3,800 miles of transmission lines. It claims it is one of the largest distributors of wind energy in Oklahoma.
Tulsa-based PSO serves 575,800 customers (residential, commercial, industrial, and “other”) in 232 cities and towns in eastern and southwestern Oklahoma, including Lawton, Altus, Duncan, Cache, Elgin, Fletcher, Porter Hill, Sterling, Apache, Cement, Cyril and Frederick.