Oklahoma’s governor said he is considering ending the state’s relationship with the Southwest Power Pool. (Getty Images) (This image cannot be republished unless you have a Getty subscription.)
Oklahoma shares power with 13 other states in the Southwest Power Pool (SPP), which spans parts of the central US.
But that could change if Governor Kevin Stitt finds reason to leave the organization. In one television interviewthe governor said he wanted to preserve the state’s sovereignty over its licensing rights and eminent domain.
“I just don’t want to play ‘mother can I’ against the Southwest Power Pool, a group of 17 states, before I add energy to my own grid,” he told political analyst Scott Mitchell.
SPP will also have this from 2024 14 Member States. Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company and the Public Service Company of Oklahoma were the group’s founders in 1941. The transmission organization provides power to 18 million electricity consumers in Central America.
When asked if Oklahoma’s electric grid would function the same way as the independent Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Stitt said “not really.” The governor said he would be open to sharing power with Texas, Kansas or Arkansas.
In a statement to StateImpact on Friday, SPP’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Lanny Nickell said the organization recently reached out to the governor to “strengthen our mutual understanding of the ways in which SPP can continue to fulfill its mission of keeping the lights on to keep going. affordable and reliable in the state of Oklahoma.”
“We will continue to work with Governor Stitt, as we do with all legislators and regulators in our service area, to ensure that the benefits of SPP membership continue to far outweigh the costs,” he said.
This article was originally published by StateImpact Oklahoma. StateImpact Oklahoma is a partnership of public radio stations in Oklahoma that relies on contributions from readers and listeners to fulfill its mission of public service to Oklahoma and beyond.
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