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PSO To Seek OCC Approval of Purchased Power Agreement

Posted on: Tuesday, 21 April 2009, 16:20 CDT

TULSA, Okla., April 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO), a subsidiary of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), and Exelon Generation Company LLC, a subsidiary of Exelon Corporation, have executed a long-term purchase power agreement (PPA) for which an application seeking its approval is expected to be filed with the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) in a matter of days. The PPA is for the purchase of up to 520 megawatts (MW) of electric generation from the 795-MW natural gas-fueled Green Country Generating Station, located in Jenks, Okla.

The agreement is the result of PSO's 2008 Request for Proposals (RFP) for Supply-Side Capacity and Energy Resources. The RFP followed a December 2007 OCC order that found PSO had a need for new baseload generation by 2012.

In the filing, PSO will be seeking to recover costs of the purchased power, which PSO System Liaison Manager Steven Fate says will provide customers with significant savings over the term of the agreement.

"This agreement will save our customers millions of dollars a year over other alternatives considered as part of the RFP process," Fate said. "In the selection of Exelon to help meet our future power generation needs, PSO has taken advantage of the current Oklahoma market to obtain this reliable, low-cost resource, which is good for our state and our customers."

PSO customer bills will not be impacted until the delivery of the power starts on June 1, 2012. The PPA would extend until Feb. 28, 2022.

Once the application has been filed, the OCC will have six months to rule on it for the contract to take effect.

PSO, a unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), is an electric utility company serving approximately 527,000 customers in eastern and southwestern Oklahoma. Based in Tulsa, PSO has 4,405 megawatts of generating capacity and is the largest provider of wind energy in the state. News releases and other information about PSO can be found on the World Wide Web at PSOklahoma.com.

American Electric Power is one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation's largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation's largest electricity transmission system, a nearly 39,000-mile network that includes more 765-kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined. AEP's transmission system directly or indirectly serves about 10 percent of the electricity demand in the Eastern Interconnection, the interconnected transmission system that covers 38 eastern and central U.S. states and eastern Canada, and approximately 11 percent of the electricity demand in ERCOT, the transmission system that covers much of Texas. AEP's utility units operate as AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia and West Virginia), AEP Appalachian Power (in Tennessee), Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana and east Texas). AEP's headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio.

SOURCE Public Service Company of Oklahoma

Source: PR Newswire

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