During its June 18 meeting, Corporation Commissioners heard energy demand projections and updates from representatives of the Southwest Power Pool (SPP), which supplies power to Oklahoma and 13 other states, and utilities PSO and OG&E.
The multi-hour series of presentations delivered similar messages: the state, like the rest of the country, will see significant energy demand that is likely to outgrow its current supply.
“When you look at the demand for electrification for data centers, the growing use of AI, all of that is continuing to put a challenge on the industry as a whole,” Bruce Rew, senior vice president of SPP operations, said. “So, we need to have continued investment in generation and new transmission facilities to meet that demand going forward.”
Data centers that power AI use high amounts of energy, and the consumption is projected to increase significantly, forecasters say. Mayes County is home to one of Google’s centers, and several more from other companies are planned in other parts of the state. Germany-based Northern Data announced plans to bring one to Pryor in 2022.
Matthew Horeled, vice president of regulatory and finance for PSO, said the company has worked over the last century to build out Oklahoma’s electric grid, but expected energy consumption from prospective customers will exceed most of PSO’s previous peak demand.
“This is the revolution that we've all been talking about with load growth that we're seeing on our system,” he said.
Horeled said the commissioners could help improve the state’s energy demand growth by encouraging new generation.
The presentations were given amid declining support for renewable energy projects in Oklahoma and nationwide. Wagoner County Commissioners voted in mid-June to deny zoning for a solar farm on agricultural land near the town of Porter. StateImpact previously reported that landowners in eastern Oklahoma are facing regulatory and personal hurdles while planning for wind turbines.
When addressing current grid challenges, Rew said the SPP experienced a forced outage for some customers on March 31 after wind speeds dipped earlier than forecasted, lowering the energy output of turbines.
“Our lesson learned from that is, certainly, in our forward-looking studies to ensure that we have enough margin to meet un-forecast areas,” he said.
Commissioners are tasked with approving rate increases for consumers in Oklahoma, which are brought forward by utilities. Just weeks before the meeting, PSO was permitted to hike up monthly bills for customers after it bought an existing power plant in Jenks.
Commissioner Kim David said although she intends to protect ratepayers, the commission wants to “move at the speed of business.”
“ We all understand that there's a huge amount of growth coming that's unprecedented,” she said. “The numbers that we're hearing are so much different than what it's been in the last 10, 20 years,” she said.
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