Oklahoma Gas & Electric uses wind to hold off on fossil fuel

Oklahoma Gas & Electric (OG&E) told the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) that the utility planned to use wind power as part of a strategy to defer all new fossil-fired generation facilities until 2020.

"OG&E will continue its expansion of wind energy with the development of 700 MW of new wind energy,” Jesse Langston, vice president of utility commercial operations, told the OCC in direct testimony on February 27. Langston noted that the OCC has already authorized OG&E to begin development of the wind-power-carrying 345-kV transmission line between Woodward and Oklahoma City; the 115-mile line is a key component of the 2020 Plan. With such actions, OG&E will have 870 MW of wind power on its system by 2012, said Langston, who called the transmission line “a first step in OG&E’s plans to encourage the development of large quantities of wind energy in western Oklahoma."