Motion against PSO buy of Oklahoma wind capacity fails - report

A judge in Oklahoma has turned-down a motion to dismiss the preapproval case for Public Service Co of Oklahoma's (PSO) acquisition of part of the 2,000-MW Wind Catcher wind farm in the southern US state, news portal NewsOK wrote on Friday.

The motion by Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter was denied by Corporation Commission Administrative Law Judge Mary Candler without any comments. According to the plaintiff, PSO did not follow competitive bidding rules and did not prove the need for additional power generation. Still, the judge okayed a separate motion under which PSO will have to cover the witness fees and other case costs for the attorney general's office, which represents consumers in such cases.

The Wind Catcher wind farm will have 800 General Electric (NYSE:GE) turbines. These will be installed as part of the USD-4.5-billion (EUR 3.8bn) Wind Catcher Energy Connection, which also includes a 350-mile (563-km) extra-high voltage power link to transport the wind power to several states in the region. Construction was launched in 2016 and is expected to be completed in the middle of 2020.

The wind project was developed by Invenergy Renewables LLC. Southwestern Electric Power Co (SWEPCO) and PSO, both units if American Electric Power (NYSE:AEP), are seeking regulatory approval to buy 1,400 MW and 600 MW of the project, respectively.

PSO, as cited by NewsOK, said that it needs a decision from Oklahoma regulators by the end of March in order to go ahead with the project. Meanwhile, developer Invenergy will have to meet additional deadlines to qualify for the federal government’s production tax credit (PTC).

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.839)

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