The City of Tuttle will receive a check for $2,661.85 from Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) as an incentive for retrofitting several City facilities with high-efficiency lighting.

The energy efficiency upgrades qualified for PSO’s Model Cities program, which helps cities and local governments reduce operating costs by identifying and implementing energy efficiency improvement projects. Incentives are paid for qualifying projects based on the total amount of energy the new equipment will save.

It’s estimated the City of Tuttle’s new energy-efficient lighting will save 28,354 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per year. The kWh savings equates to approximately $1,900 per year in operational cost savings.

"The incentive and cost savings certainly validates our investment in energy efficiency, and the money we save can be reinvested directly back into the community," said Tuttle City Manager, Tim Young. "In being good stewards of public funds, it is important that the City of Tuttle take advantage of programs such as this, and at the same time, it sets a positive example for our community by reducing our energy use."

PSO Customer Services Representative Donna Satterlee said that Model Cities has proven to be a valuable tool in helping PSO-served communities reduce electrical demand and hold down costs.

"We identified a real need for an energy efficiency program that specifically targets cities and local governments, especially as budgets are spread thin," said

Satterlee. "By partnering with the City of Tuttle to reduce energy costs, their valuable resources can be used for other needed projects."

PSO, a unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), is an electric utility company serving more than 530,000 customers in eastern and southwestern Oklahoma. With headquarters in Tulsa, PSO has 4,321 megawatts of generating capacity and provides electricity to 230 cities and towns across a service area encompassing 30,000 square miles. News releases and other information about PSO can be found on the World Wide Web at www.PSOklahoma.com.