Southeast Oklahoma Power Corporation, an energy company, would have built a hydropower project in Pushmataha County.
The endeavor would create two reservoirs just south of Talihina on the Kiamichi River. They'd sit right next to each other, but one would be at a higher elevation than the other.
Together, these reservoirs would act like a giant battery. When the grid had extra power, it could be used to pump water into the upper reservoir. When the grid needed more power to meet demand, that stored water could be released from the upper reservoir to generate electricity.
In the proposed Pushmataha Project, those reservoirs would be filled with water from the Kiamichi River. But once filled, they'd form a closed loop, where the water could be pumped uphill, released downhill, and then pumped uphill again.
As the company developed its plans to understand how the project would affect the environment and the people of Southeast Oklahoma, federal regulators found important information missing even after repeated requests to include it.
As part of the licensing process, the company was required to develop a study plan to address questions and concerns from stakeholders, which include federal agencies, tribal governments and municipal officials. According to the rejection letter, SEOPC did not meet that requirement, even after it was given multiple chances to improve its study plan.
The most recent plan did not address nine studies requested by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Those included surveys on impacts to mussel and fish populations in the river, assessments of water quality effects and projects of river flow under climate change.
The proposed study plan did address a request from the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations to overlay the reservoirs on a map, but only to say the company would not be doing it without further explanation.
The plan didn't include specific methodologies, even for studies it did plan to conduct.
As delays and noncompliance issues stacked up, federal officials terminated the application, saying the company had "not demonstrated the diligence needed."
FERC cited similar reasoning when it rejected the company's pre-application in March 2024. That pre-application was revised and accepted. It's valid for the next two years.
The company could take another stab at the licensing process within that timeframe, but they'd have to start from the beginning. Southeast Oklahoma Power Corporation CEO Johann Tse didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
