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AEP Receives Enough Approvals To Move Forward With 1,485-Megawatt North Central Wind Projects
- Louisiana Public Service Commission approves settlement agreement for SWEPCO's share of the projects to serve Louisiana customers - SWEPCO will continue to
About this update from American Electric Power Company, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"- Louisiana Public Service Commission approves settlement agreement for SWEPCO's share of the projects to serve Louisiana customers\n - SWEPCO will continue to seek approval to allocate a share of the projects to serve SWEPCO customers in Texas\n\n\nCOLUMBUS, Ohio, May 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) has received approvals to enable the company to acquire the entire planned 1,485 megawatts (MW) of wind generation in Oklahoma. AEP will invest approximately $2 billion in this new renewable energy to serve its Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO) and Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) customers. \nThe Louisiana Public Service Commission today approved a settlement agreement that authorizes SWEPCO to add 810 MW of wind energy to serve its customers. The Commission approved an option that could increase Louisiana's allocation to an estimated 464 MW from the original 268 MW, if Texas does not also approve the SWEPCO proposal. The Arkansas Public Service Commission also accepted an option to increase its allocation when it approved the project earlier this month. The project remains under regulatory review in Texas, and SWEPCO will continue to seek that approval to allocate some of this renewable energy to benefit its customers in Texas. \nPSO received final Oklahoma Corporation Commission approval Feb. 20, 2020, of a settlement agreement to acquire 675 MW of the project. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) also has approved the acquisition. \n\"Today's decision by the Louisiana Public Service Commission enables us to move forward with the North Central wind projects at full scale and invest in low-cost wind energy to benefit our customers in Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma,\" said Nicholas K. Akins, AEP chairman, president and chief executive officer. \"As AEP continues to add new clean energy to our generation portfolio, this investment is expected to save our customers approximately $3 billion over the next 30 years while supporting economic development in our communities. We will continue to seek approval to provide a share of this renewable energy to our SWEPCO customers in Texas, as we believe the projects offer significant benefits to customers across our SWEPCO footprint.\"\nNorth Central includes three wind generation facilities located in north central Oklahoma. AEP's SW...