Kiwanis had special guest Kristi Sproul at its meeting Tuesday. Sproul works on external affairs for the renewal projects at the Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO).
Sproul told Kiwanis members about Traverse, a 350-squaremile wind farm which stretches from north of Weatherford to Watonga. “The primary reason for starting this project is because it’s what our customers were asking for,” Sproul said. “They were asking for clean energy and also the savings which come along with having a fuelfree generation source.”
This $2-billion project is the single largest wind farm in the United States, and will provide financial benefits for PSO customers as well as local schools which will benefit from the $680 million in tax revenue the farm will generate.
Not only are customers estimated to save a total of a billion dollars in the course of 30 years, but having another source of energy will allow PSO to save money as well. During the winter storm of February of 2021, Sproul said PSO had to use more fuel in two weeks than they typically do in an entire year. The company would have saved $200 million during the storm if they had the wind farm in operation during that time.
“That was a pivotal point in Oklahoma showing it took all sources of energy,” Sproul said. “We had coal piles which froze up; we had natural gas lines which froze; we had days the wind wasn’t blowing and turbines weren’t running. There were other times during that period when one of those sources came in and saved the day. That really proves the all of the above approach we have taken here in Oklahoma with PSO.”
Sproul said PSO will not be using coal as an energy source in the future due to the expenses which come from the constantly changing regulations surrounding the industry.
Sproul ended the discussion by answering the Kiwanians questions concerning the benefits and downfalls of solar farms, another way to produce renewable energy.