USA - Demand for wind-generated electricity blows away Oklahoma utility companies

An Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co. program allowing customers to buy wind-generated electricity has been so successful that there is now a waiting list for prospective participants. There is a financial incentive in addition to environmental reasons for getting into the program, utility spokesman Sondra Longcrier said. "Now customers are finding they can not only support green power but also save on their electric bills," she said. The utility charges its participating customers a wind fee, but those customers are exempt from the fuel cost adjustment charge to reimburse OG&E for what it spends on coal and natural gas. The price of natural gas has been soaring, so people who participate in the wind power program are paying on average about $8 a month less than customers not in the program. Nearly 9,000 customers had signed up for at least partial participation in OG&E's wind program by December in what the utility said was one of the fastest-growing renewable energy programs in the country. Participation has now jumped to more than 10,000 customers.

The utility has sold all of its available wind-generated electricity and has decided to commission a new 120-megawatt wind farm near its existing 50-megawatt facility north of Woodward. The new windmills are expected to be operational by December. Julianne Whitaker Hoagland was one of the first OG&E customers to sign up for the utility's wind power program. She increased her participation to 100 percent of her electricity usage nearly 18 months later. "I've always been in favor of wind power," she said. "I wanted to be at 100 percent wind power all along. Part of the reason I wasn't at first is because I was trying to figure out OG&E's formula. It was also for financial reasons because at that time it did cost more."