Keeping the state in power

By Jack Money

Published: April 20, 2008

No matter where you live in Oklahoma, you are getting electricity.

Of course, where you live dictates which company provides your power.

Some Oklahomans get theirs from rural electric cooperatives. Others get it from their towns and cities.

Most, though, get theirs from Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co., part of OGE Energy Corp., or from Public Service Co. of Oklahoma, part of American Electric Power.

These companies are responsible for making sure your lights come on when you flip a switch.

But, especially in the case of OG&E and PSO, they also generate most of the electricity their customers consume.

The companies meet that demand by operating low-sulfur coal-fired power plants, natural gas power plants, and by either building and owning or contracting with wind farms springing up across western Oklahoma like wildflowers.

And they are working on ways to expand power production to meet the demands they foresee for the future.

They also are preparing to encourage their customers to renew efforts to conserve power as demand seems to get larger on an almost daily basis.

Here's a little closer look at the state's two largest electricity generators and providers:

•Year founded: 1902, as Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co.

•Number of employees: About 3,100.

•Number of power plants: Two coal-fired plants — one at Muskogee and the other at Red Rock — and seven gas-fired plants, at Muskogee, Enid, Woodward, Mustang, near Newcastle in McClain County, at Horseshoe Lake in eastern Oklahoma County, and at Konawa. The company also has a pending deal to buy a majority ownership and operate an eighth gas plant near Luther.

•Number of customers: About 755,000.

Brian Alford, a spokesman for OG&E, said many utility customers may not realize the vast majority of power consumed by Oklahomans is made in the Sooner State.

"There may be occasions when we make purchases off system, like when it is hot, or when one of our plants is down for overhauls during the spring or the fall,” he said. "But day in and day out, most of what is consumed is made in Oklahoma.”

The company generates 6,100 megawatts for its system today, using not only the coal- and gas-fired power plants, but electricity generated by wind farms in northwest Oklahoma.

The company has about 170 megawatts of wind power in its portfolio today and plans to quadruple that amount during the next five years.

About 80 percent of the company's employees work for OG&E. The remainder work for Enogex, a quickly growing company involved in natural gas gathering, processing, transportation, storage and marketing. The system includes about 7,800 miles of pipe, six processing plants, and 23 billion cubic feet of storage capacity.

And its system is connected to 15 other major pipelines at about 65 pipeline interconnect points, providing access to markets in the western U.S., the Midwest, Northeast, and Gulf Coast in addition to Oklahoma and adjoining states.

Alford noted that Enogex provided record earnings last year to OGE Energy, the parent company for it and OG&E.

"OGE Energy Corp. is much more than just the utility,” he said. "It is in the utility and the natural gas business.

"Today, OG&E is our face in the community because that is how most people have known us, and that is fine,” Alford said.

"But at the same time, Enogex is continuing to grow, prosper, to do more and be more visible. So we hope more and more Oklahomans come to know who Enogex is as well.”

•Year founded: 1889, as Vinita Electric Light and Power Co. PSO was formed in 1913, when the original company combined with five other small electric companies in Atoka, Coalgate, Lehigh, Guthrie and Tulsa.

•Number of employees: About 1,600.

•Number of power plants: One coal-fired plant in Oologah, and six gas-fired plants in Lawton, Anadarko, Weleetka, Jenks, Tulsa and Oologah.

•Number of customers: About 514,000.

Stan Whiteford, a spokesman for PSO, said many Oklahomans served by the utility may not realize the company is part of a much bigger power provider, American Electric Power.

AEP is one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states, and also 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.

PSO, meanwhile, has 4,400 megawatts of generating capacity within Oklahoma, about a third of which is provided by wind power primarily from farms built near Woodward and near Lawton. Its transmission system covers 30,000 square miles in northeast, southeast and southwest Oklahoma.

Whiteford said PSO is always evaluating its customers' future power needs and how to meet those demands.

"Planning for the future is the key in our business. It is the most challenging part and the most critical part.”

At the same time, the utility is implementing plans to encourage their customers to use power more efficiently so that it can be conserved.

Electricity usage in the average home has increased 20 percent in the past 15 years, he noted.

"It is an interesting, complex and challenging business, and it is one that is vital,” Whiteford said. "If there is any business critical to the growth of Oklahoma, it is electricity.”

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