OKLAHOMA CITY – Attorney General Mike Hunter today released the following statement after Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) announced it would no longer seek pre-approval from the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) for its proposed Wind Catcher project.
The company’s decision to cancel the project comes a day after the Texas Public Utility Commission voted unanimously to deny the project. Texas commissioners said the project’s benefits were based on questionable assumptions and the benefits weren’t enough for Texas ratepayers.
“I commend the Texas Public Utility Commission for its sound and sensible ruling,” Attorney General Hunter said. “We have said from the beginning PSO failed on several fronts to qualify for pre-approval and cost recovery of this project, including its failure to comply with the OCC’s rules for competitive bidding, the inability to show a need for the generation capacity and unrealistic assumptions of ratepayer savings.
“Our position was never critical of the company or the benefits of wind or other forms of renewable energy. It was about protecting the ratepayers and ensuring they did not shoulder the risks of this $4.5 billion project.
“PSO has proven itself as one of our state’s most valuable corporate citizens. We look forward to them continuing to provide quality service to thousands of Oklahomans for many years to come. We also look forward to working with them on future rate cases to keep customers’ rates reasonable, and PSO’s parent company, American Electric Power, attractive to investors.”
Read previous statements from Attorney General Hunter on the Wind Catcher project, here: https://bit.ly/2AqH1ub.