Had Public Service Company of Oklahoma been allowed to proceed with a proposed $118 million energy center at the Fort Sill Army Post, it would have been possibly ahead of its time.
It was this week when U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin along with Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, introduced an Act to make more secure the nation’s defense infrastructure and electric grids at military bases….something PSO and the Department of Defense wanted to do with construction of an energy center on the southern Oklahoma military post. Fort Sill and the area are served by PSO.
It’s just what PSO and Fort Sill proposed in 2021 but the Corporation Commission gave restrictive approval and the idea was also opposed by then-Attorney General Mike Hunter, the Commission’s Public Utilities Division, an Administrative Law Judge and an industrial consumers group.
PSO sought approval from the state regulators to pass the cost along to ratepayers, an amount that would have been about a dollar more a month.
PSO never received Corporation Commission approval and the utility decided not to proceed with construction. The proposed project included a 10.9 MW solar energy facility and a 36 MW Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engine (RICE) generation facility to be located on the military post. While it’s been three years since the rejection, the idea might not be totally dead.
“PSO is continuing to collaborate to find additional innovative solutions for consideration,” said Whitney Emerick, Director of Communications for PSO, in reply to an OK Energy Today inquiry.
When the Commission voted on the issue three years ago, the vote was 2-0 in support, albeit with restrictions while Commissioner Bob Anthony raised legal questions stating suggested that under the Title 17 law used by PSO in filing for the pre-approval, the commission had an obligation to make a decision within 240 days and it failed to meet the deadline.
As OK Energy Today reported at the time, Anthony later submitted his 2021-06-07 Separate Opinion of Comm. Bob Anthony, PSO-Ft Sill Cause No PUD 202000097 in which he stated, “Time will tell if today’s “limited” approval meets the need.”
His brief opinion also concluded that in order to enable Ft. Sill to strengthen its strategic energy resilience using secure on-site facilities, the commission “should have issued a timely order” acceptable to the Department of Defense and PSO.
Sens. Mullin and Masto introduced the Guaranteeing Resilient Installations for Defense (GRID) Act, a measure calling to strengthen the electric grids at defense installations and protect them not only from cyberattacks and natural disasters but other threats.
“Oklahoma is home to five world-class military installations,”said Sen. Mullin.
“It is imperative our bases in Oklahoma and all critical defense sites across the country have access to a reliable supply of energy and electricity. The federal government must work together with local utilities to ensure electric grids for defense sites are resilient and secure.”
As Mullin’s press release indicated, his Act has the support of OG&E, Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.
You can read the full bill text here.