OGE Energy Corporation (OGE) received approval from the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) to purchase electricity from wind farms currently under development in northwestern Oklahoma. This regulatory approval enabled the company to increase its renewable energy capacity to 550 MW. OGE Energy, prior to the regulatory approval, had 270 MW of wind capacity in northwestern Oklahoma near Woodward.
The OCC order clears the way for OGE Energy’s customers to receive electricity from a 150 MW wind farm being constructed by CPV Keenan in Woodward County and a 130 MW facility being built by Edison International’s (EIX) subsidiary Edison Mission Energy in Dewey County near Taloga. Both wind farms are expected to be operational by year-end 2010. The Commission approved 20-year power-purchase agreements, under which the developers will build, own and operate the wind farms and OGE Energy will purchase their electric output.
OGE Energy plans to further expand its wind power portfolio to approximately 770 MW by 2012. OGE Energy planned capital expenditures of approximately $617 million and $567 million in fiscals 2010 and 2011, respectively. To support this, the company expects to raise $200 million – $250 million of long-term debt in mid-2010. Of this, a significant chunk is expected to be refinanced by long-term notes at cheaper rates.
OGE Energy is a public utility holding company. Its principal subsidiary is Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company, a regulated public utility engaged in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity to retail and wholesale customers. Its other subsidiary is Enogex Inc., which owns and operates natural gas transmission and gathering pipelines, has interests in several gas processing plants, markets electricity, natural gas and natural gas liquids and invests in crude oil and natural gas operations.
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