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Tulsa-Based Public Service Company of OK Boosts Jenks Station With $56.7 M Expansion

Posted on: Tuesday, 7 March 2006, 12:01 CST

By Kirby Lee Davis

The Public Service Company of Oklahoma will add 170 megawatts of peak generating capacity to its Riverside Station in Jenks.

Built in 1974, that baseload station is the third largest in the PSO network, with a capacity of just over 900 megawatts. The $56.7 million project to add two new natural gas turbines will lift the Jenks station's total peak capacity to about 1,200 metawatts, making it the largest plant in PSO's arsenal.

The two units are being added strictly for peak purposes, said Stan Whiteford with PSO's Corporate Communications Department. Under most circumstances, that means they will operate only during summer months.

The Tulsa-based electric utility will begin site preparation in August for the self-build project. Construction should begin this fall for completion and testing in time for summer 2008 usage.

The project should boost subcontractor employment at the Arkansas River plant during the construction phase. Whiteford doubted it would lead to long-term job increases.

Whiteford said PSO chose the Jenks plant for its good location just south of the Creek Turnpike bridge, its abundance of available room and infrastructure and easy access to transmission facilities.

This project is part of a request for proposals PSO issued Sept. 12 to add 500 megawatts of peaking generation by 2008. The company has two proposals remaining under consideration for expanding the Southwestern Station near Anadarko, which now has 468 megawatts of generating capacity. Whiteford expects a decision on that within 30 days.

The last time the power company added a gas turbine to an existing facility came with the 2001 expansion of its Oolagah power station. Whiteford said that project cost $135 million.

PSO received six proposals from its ROP for up to 600 megawatts of baseload generation to be online in 2011.

Whiteford said these include both outside proposals as well as self-built projects. He expects a decision in June.

PSO, a unit of American Electric Power, serves about 511,000 customers in eastern and southwestern Oklahoma. It has more than 4,000 megawatts of generating capacity.

Its parent company, American Electric Power of Columbus, Ohio, is the nation's largest electricity generator, owning more than 36,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the United States. AEP is also one of the nation's largest electric utilities, with more than 5 million customers linked to its 11-state electricity transmission and distribution grid.

Source: Journal Record - Oklahoma City

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