AEP Settles Legal Dispute By Adding 359 MW Of Wind Power

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American Electric Power (AEP) subsidiary Southwestern Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO) has signed long-term power purchase agreements for 358.65 MW of wind energy projects in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

Together with a 49.2 MW agreement signed by the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority (OMPA), SWEPCO and its affiliates have exceeded the 400 MW renewable energy commitment in a recent settlement of legal issues involving the John W. Turk Jr. Power Plant, the company explains.

The new series of 20-year agreements includes the following contracts:


  • Three contracts totaling 201.25 MW from Canadian Hills Wind LLC, owned by Apex Wind Energy Holdings LLC and located in Canadian County, west of Oklahoma City, Okla.;
  • 79.6 MW from High Majestic Wind II LLC, owned by NextEra Energy Resources LLC and located in Carson and Potter Counties in the Texas panhandle; and
  • 77.8 MW from Flat Ridge 2 Wind Energy LLC, owned by BP Wind Energy and Sempra U.S. Gas and Power and located in Barber, Harper, Kingman and Sumner Counties, southwest of Wichita, Kan.

Separately, OMPA, a co-owner of the Turk Plant, has signed a 25-year agreement for 49.2 MW from the Canadian Hills Wind project.

SWEPCO announced on Dec. 22, 2011, that the company had settled all legal actions brought against it by the Sierra Club, the National Audubon Society and Audubon Arkansas related to the Turk Plant under construction in southwest Arkansas. The settlement includes a provision that SWEPCO and its affiliates will construct or secure 400 MW of new renewable energy resources by the end of 2014. The SWEPCO and OMPA agreements total 407.85 MW.

"With these long-term power purchase agreements, we have added a substantial amount of wind energy to serve SWEPCO customers in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas, and we have combined efforts with a Turk Plant partner to exceed the 400 MW commitment in our Turk Plant settlement," says Nicholas K. Akins, AEP's president and CEO.

The wind resources will be interconnected to SWEPCO through the transmission facilities of the Southwest Power Pool, the regional transmission organization that includes SWEPCO and other utilities across parts of nine states.

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