Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) plans to spend $48 million to upgrade its Tulsa area transmission system, providing improvements that will increase electric service reliability and help meet the growing demand for electricity in the Tulsa area.
 
A key element of the project involves upgrading an existing 138 kV transmission line to 345 kV.  The 21.6-mile line runs from PSO’s Riverside Power Station in Jenks to the Wekiwa substation west of Sand Springs, and, when converted, will complete a 345 kV loop around the city of Tulsa.
 
According to PSO President Stuart Solomon, completing the last leg of the 345 kV loop is vital to keep pace with the growing demand for electricity in the Tulsa area.
 
“The reliability improvements and operational flexibility made possible by this upgrade will help support the growth and development of our community, providing a value to our customers for years to come,” said Solomon.
 
A new transmission substation near Sapulpa, two new transmission lines near PSO’s Tulsa Power Station at 36^th and Elwood, and improvements to eight miles of transmission lines near Oneta, located a few miles southeast of Broken Arrow, also will be part of the project.
              
While some preliminary work has already begun, the first of the transmission line construction is not scheduled to get underway until late this year or early 2006.  The entire project is scheduled for completion by mid-2007.

PSO, a unit of American Electric Power, is an electric utility company serving approximately 509,000 customers in eastern and southwestern Oklahoma.  Based in Tulsa, PSO has more than 4,000 megawatts of generating capacity and offers some of the lowest energy prices in the United States.