Oklahoma energy briefs for March 2

PSO wins award from EPA

TULSA — Public Service Co. of Oklahoma has earned a 2012 ENERGY STAR Sustained Excellence Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its energy efficiency efforts. The company will be recognized March 15 at an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. PSO has been an ENERGY STAR partner since 2008, promoting construction of more than 1,500 program qualified new homes over the past four years. “PSO is committed to partnering with ENERGY STAR in our efforts to increase energy efficiency in homes across our service area, which helps customers spend less on utility bills while also protecting the environment and reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” said Eric Raines, PSO's consumer programs manager.

SandRidge Energy plans dividend

SandRidge Energy Inc. will pay a semiannual dividend of $3.50 a share on its preferred stock, the company announced Thursday. The dividend will be paid in cash May 15. The company has 3 million shares outstanding.

Shell sues for Arctic drilling

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Royal Dutch Shell Oil Co. is taking the offensive against environmental groups that have put legal roadblocks in the company's path to offshore drilling in the Arctic Ocean. The Houston-based oil giant Wednesday sued 11 Alaska Native or environmental organizations that have challenged Arctic offshore drilling at various regulatory steps, starting with the sale of leases and continuing through nearly every permit Shell has needed to dip into the petroleum wealth believed to be in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska's northwest coast and the Beaufort Sea off the state's north coast. The lawsuit would initiate the inevitable court review of Shell's Chukchi Sea oil spill response plan, said Shell Alaska spokesman Curtis Smith.