Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) is seeking proposals for new generation to supplement existing power supply resources to effectively meet customers’ power demand requirements.  PSO is seeking both new peaking resources and base-load resources.  A draft Request for Proposal (RFP) to add peaking capacity will be issued Sept. 12, 2005.  A separate RFP for additional base-load capacity will follow in October.
 
PSO will solicit new resources through a competitive bid process in which the company’s “self build” options will compete against third-party proposals.

PSO is seeking up to 500 megawatts of new peaking capacity and associated energy, and up to 650 megawatts of base-load capacity and energy. The target year for the addition of new peaking capacity is 2008.  The additional base load capacity will be needed by 2011.
Potential site reviews continue and multiple technologies including integrated gasification combined-cycle (IGCC), pulverized coal and circulating fluidized bed combustion are all under evaluation.

“These new power supply resources will support the growing needs for electricity in Oklahoma,” said Stuart Solomon, PSO’s president and chief operating officer.  “The competitive bid process provides a fair way for all available resource options to be evaluated to obtain the lowest reasonable cost, most reliable power supply resources for our customers.”

The peaking RFP will be available on the company’s website beginning Sept. 12 at http://www.PSOklahoma.com/go/rfp. 

PSO, a unit of American Electric Power, is an electric utility company serving approximately 509,000 customers in eastern and southwestern Oklahoma.  Based in Tulsa, PSO has more than 4,000 megawatts of generating capacity and offers some of the lowest energy prices in the United States.