Customers of Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO), a subsidiary of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), will realize long-term savings of more than $100 million if an energy efficiency plan it has filed with the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) is approved.  PSO’s Energy Efficiency and Demand Response plan includes 16 new or updated programs aimed at reducing costs and saving energy across all customer classes.
 
All of the program proposals offer customers an incentive to either make energy efficiency improvements to existing facilities or to incorporate energy-efficient technologies in new construction – from building and buying energy efficient homes – to improving large industrial motors, lighting or HVAC equipment.  PSO estimates the programs will produce energy savings of 170 million kilowatt-hours over three years.
 
While the programs’ costs would be approximately $80 million, customer benefits are expected to total $186 million, resulting in $106 million in net total savings to customers.
 
“Ultimately, the programs will provide energy savings solutions for our customers that far outweigh the costs,” said Kathy Champion, PSO’s manager of Consumer Programs.
 
PSO’s existing energy efficiency offerings – called “quick start” programs – have been in place for more than a year, saving customers more than $2.5 million and reducing energy demand by over 6.3 million kilowatt-hours.  Champion says the experience gained with those programs provided a successful example on which to expand.
 
“Our initial energy efficiency and demand response programs have been very effective in proving the benefits to our customers,” said Champion.  “Not only have the program participants been saving money, but all customers are benefiting from the reduced need for additional costly generation.”
 
PSO, a unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), is an electric utility company serving approximately 527,000 customers in eastern and southwestern Oklahoma.  Based in Tulsa, PSO has 4,405 megawatts of generating capacity, and is the largest provider of wind energy in the state.  News releases and other information about PSO can be found on the World Wide Web at www.PSOklahoma.com.
 
American Electric Power is one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation’s largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation’s largest electricity transmission system, a nearly 39,000-mile network that includes more 765 kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined. AEP’s transmission system directly or indirectly serves about 10 percent of the electricity demand in the Eastern Interconnection, the interconnected transmission system that covers 38 eastern and central U.S. states and eastern Canada, and approximately 11 percent of the electricity demand in ERCOT, the transmission system that covers much of Texas. AEP’s utility units operate as AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia and West Virginia), AEP Appalachian Power (in Tennessee), Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana and east Texas). AEP’s headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio.