WIND ON THE PRAIRIE

Tulsa, tribe ponder wind energy pact
P.J. Lassek, July 27, 2009 (Tulsa World)

"Wind power is blowing across the country and at least one Tulsa city councilor hopes to harness some of it from a proposed Cherokee Nation wind farm…

"The city and tribe are in the early stages of researching the feasibility of a wind energy partnership and are set to meet next month…"

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"The city receives its electricity from AEP-PSO, but creating a partnership between the city, tribe and power company [could be good for all thre]…[Tulsa] first needs to undergo an energy audit of all its facilities [hopefully completed by the end of 2009] before any decisions can be made…[T]he city’s goals are to use 20 percent less energy by 2011."

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"The Cherokee Nation has land near Newkirk in Kay County where it plans to build a wind farm…The tribe is researching the feasibility of transmitting that power to northeastern Oklahoma, said Amanda Clinton, spokeswoman for Cherokee Nation Businesses.

"…PSO owns the distribution system, so if the city purchased power from the tribe, an agreement would have to be made with the company…PSO currently contracts with three wind farms…Two additional farms are under construction and should be complete by year’s end…PSO is the largest distributor of wind power in the state…"