Power officials expect Oklahoma will be a leading exporter of wind-generated energy by 2024.
Advertisement
Thursday, representatives of the Southwest Power Pool, one of eight regional transmission networks carrying power throughout the continental U.S., detailed its planned improvements and ongoing studies for improvements that will help move much of that power east to other parts of the country.
They made their presentation at the Oklahoma Corporation Commission's offices.
Wind soon could be Oklahoma's most valuable export, Commissioners Jim Roth and Jeff Cloud said after the meeting.
Roth said Oklahoma has enough wind to generate tens of thousands of megawatts of power. As a way of describing how much that is, he noted Oklahomans only need 14,000 megawatts of power today.
"We are on the cusp of something that great,” Roth said. "But there are reliability issues and standards that have to be met, and this is what the Southwest Power Pool and other regional networks have to do.”
Roth said the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission set "high hurdles” to make sure entrepreneurs can build the wind farms, get the power into the grid safely and reliably meet demand.
Jay Caspary, director of engineering for Southwest Power Pool, told participants at Thursday's meeting numerous utility companies, including Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co. and American Electric Power Co., already are willing to help build a new network of high-voltage transmission lines across parts of Oklahoma to carry the wind-generated power and tie it into the bigger network.
"I am just impressed that we have this commitment to build out the grid,” said Caspary.
More study is needed, though, he added.
"We need to refine, and revise our collector system, as appropriate ... figure out where the hubs are, where the spokes are, how big do we build it, and how soon. That all will be driven by assumptions in our studies.”
The issue also is being examined by a state-level task force created by the 2007 Legislature.
Commissioner Cloud, chairman of the task force, said the group already has submitted a preliminary report and continues its work today.
Members of the taskforce include legislators and electric utility representatives.
Thank you for joining our conversations on newsok. We encourage your discussions but ask that you stay within the bounds of our terms and conditions. Please help us by reporting comments that violate these guidelines. To review our rules of engagement, go to Commenting and posting policy.
Fitness and Nutrition
Visit NewsOK's latest Know it and find out why proper diet and exercise are key.
More Info
A wind turbine waits for assembly recently at Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co.'s Centennial Wind Farm near Fort Supply. Provided by Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co.
Henry pushes for biofuels center
Legislators should continue a commitment to the Oklahoma Bioenergy Center, the governor said Thursday.
Gov. Brad Henry is calling on lawmakers this year to continue their funding commitment with a $10 million appropriation.
The cost of the initiative is $40 million over a four-year period. Legislators allocated $10 million to the center last year.
The center coordinates biofuels research and development being conducted at the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University and the Ardmore-based Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation. In its first six months, the center has attracted $10 million in federal funding to match the $10 million that the state appropriated to it last year, according to the governor's office.
The potential impact of the Oklahoma Bioenergy Center is clear after recently passed federal legislation requires the production of 36 billion gallons of biofuels by 2022, Henry said.
"That amounts to roughly 25 percent of the annual gas consumption in the United States,” Henry said. "More than half of those 36 billion gallons is likely to come from cellulosic feed stocks such as switchgrass, a prairie grass that grows naturally in Oklahoma and is a main focus of the OBC's research effort.”
Henry said his executive budget for the upcoming fiscal year also will propose a $5 million increase to the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology.
Capitol Bureau Writer Michael McNutt
0
Prev
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
Thank you for joining our conversations on newsok. We encourage your discussions but ask that you stay within the bounds of our terms and conditions. Please help us by reporting comments that violate these guidelines. To review our rules of engagement, go to Commenting and posting policy.
Log in below or sign up (it's free).