COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Electric Power
(NYSE: AEP) subsidiary Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) today
issued a request for proposals (RFP) seeking long-term purchases of up to
200 megawatts (MW) of new renewable energy resources.
According to the RFP, proposals must rely on commercially proven
technologies for renewable energy, including wind; solar photovoltaic;
biomass firing or co-firing of agricultural crops and all energy crops;
hydro (as certified by the Low Impact Hydropower Institute); landfill gas;
biogas digesters; and biomass firing or co-firing of crop residues, animal
waste and woody waste. The generation must be operational by the end of
2010.
A pre-bid conference call for potential bidders will be conducted May
21 with proposals to be submitted by June 30. RFP information can be found
at http://www.psoklahoma.com/go/rfp .
The renewable RFP will fulfill a portion of PSO's energy requirements
consistent with the company's Spring 2008 Integrated Resource Plan. It also
is part of AEP's plan - announced in 2007 - to add 1,000 MW of new wind or
renewable energy by 2011 as a component of the company's comprehensive
strategy to address its greenhouse gas emissions. The addition of renewable
energy to AEP's energy portfolio avoids an increase in greenhouse gas
emissions that would otherwise occur if AEP used traditional fossil
generation to meet growing customer demand.
"This RFP continues our commitment to adding renewables, where they are
most viable, to our generation portfolio. In Oklahoma, we are already the
largest provider of wind energy in the state with 392.5 megawatts of
renewable generation serving our customers through long-term contracts.
Adding another 200 megawatts of renewable generation will bring the
renewable portion of our PSO generation capacity to more than 10 percent,"
said Michael G. Morris, AEP's chairman, president and chief executive
officer.
"Despite best intentions, it is not possible to meet all of the growing
energy needs of our customers solely with renewable generation. Even in
areas where renewables are most viable, the ability of renewable generation
to reach its full potential is inhibited by the constant uncertainty of the
Production Tax Credits and the ever-growing constraints on our country's
transmission grid. On a national level, we need to codify longer-term tax
credits for renewable generation. We also need national regulatory policies
that support transmission investment and advance development of a reliable
transmission highway to move renewable power from where it can be generated
to where it can serve customers," Morris said.
AEP issued RFPs for 65 MW of renewable energy to serve its Southwestern
Electric Power Company customers and for 100 MW of renewable energy to
serve its Appalachian Power customers in April. AEP has completed three
purchases of long-term renewable energy capacity since the company made its
1,000-MW commitment in 2007. The three purchases, all of wind energy, added
275 MW of renewable capacity to serve AEP's customers in Indiana, Michigan,
West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee.
AEP's wind portfolio - prior to the recent RFPs - is 1,050 MW, which
includes 310 MW of wind generation owned by AEP in Texas, long-term wind
purchase agreements reached before the company's 2007 commitment and
agreements reached after the 2007 commitment.
PSO is an electric utility company serving approximately 520,000
customers in eastern and southwestern Oklahoma. Based in Tulsa, PSO has
more than 4,000 MW of generating capacity, and is the largest provider of
wind energy in the state. News releases and other information about PSO can
be found on the World Wide Web at PSOklahoma.com.
American Electric Power is one of the largest electric utilities in the
United States, delivering electricity to more than 5 million customers in
11 states. AEP ranks among the nation's largest generators of electricity,
owning nearly 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also
owns the nation's largest electricity transmission system, a nearly
39,000-mile network that includes more 765-kilovolt extra-high voltage
transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined. AEP's
transmission system directly or indirectly serves about 10 percent of the
electricity demand in the Eastern Interconnection, the interconnected
transmission system that covers 38 eastern and central U.S. states and
eastern Canada, and approximately 11 percent of the electricity demand in
ERCOT, the transmission system that covers much of Texas. AEP's utility
units operate as AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia and
West Virginia), AEP Appalachian Power (in Tennessee), Indiana Michigan
Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern
Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana and east Texas). AEP's
headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio.
This report made by American Electric Power and its Registrant
Subsidiaries contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Although the
registrants believe that their expectations are based on reasonable
assumptions, any such statements may be influenced by factors that could
cause actual outcomes and results to be materially different from those
projected. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those in the forward-looking statements are: electric load
and customer growth; weather conditions, including storms; available
sources and costs of, and transportation for, fuels and the
creditworthiness and performance of fuel suppliers and transporters;
availability of generating capacity and the performance of AEP's generating
plants; AEP's ability to recover regulatory assets and stranded costs in
connection with deregulation; AEP's ability to recover increases in fuel
and other energy costs through regulated or competitive electric rates;
AEP's ability to build or acquire generating capacity (including the
company's ability to obtain any necessary regulatory approvals and permits)
when needed at acceptable prices and terms and to recover those costs
through applicable rate cases or competitive rates; new legislation,
litigation and government regulation including requirements for reduced
emissions of sulfur, nitrogen, mercury, carbon, soot or particulate matter
and other substances; timing and resolution of pending and future rate
cases, negotiations and other regulatory decisions (including rate or other
recovery of new investments in generation, distribution and transmission
service and environmental compliance); resolution of litigation (including
disputes arising from the bankruptcy of Enron Corp. and related matters);
AEP's ability to constrain operation and maintenance costs; the economic
climate and growth in AEP's service territory and changes in market demand
and demographic patterns; inflationary and interest rate trends; volatility
in the financial markets, particularly developments affecting the
availability of capital on reasonable terms and developments impairing
AEP's ability to refinance existing debt at attractive rates; AEP's ability
to develop and execute a strategy based on a view regarding prices of
electricity, natural gas and other energy-related commodities; changes in
the creditworthiness of the counterparties with whom AEP has contractual
arrangements, including participants in the energy trading market; actions
of rating agencies, including changes in the ratings of debt; volatility
and changes in markets for electricity, natural gas, coal, nuclear fuel and
other energy-related commodities; changes in utility regulation, including
the potential for new legislation in Ohio and the allocation of costs
within regional transmission organizations; accounting pronouncements
periodically issued by accounting standard-setting bodies; the impact of
volatility in the capital markets on the value of the investments held by
AEP's pension, other postretirement benefit plans and nuclear
decommissioning trust; prices for power that AEP generates and sells at
wholesale; changes in technology, particularly with respect to new,
developing or alternative sources of generation; other risks and unforeseen
events, including wars, the effects of terrorism (including increased
security costs), embargoes and other catastrophic events.
SOURCE American Electric Power
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Related links:
http://www.aep.com
http://www.psoklahoma.com/go/rfp
http://www.PSOklahoma.com
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/042050.html /
CONTACT:
Melissa McHenry, Manager, Corporate Media
Relations of American Electric Power, +1-614-716-1120
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