The Board of Directors of the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority in August authorized staff to move forward with entering the Southwest Power Pool’s Generation Interconnection queue.
“The move will allow the Authority to potentially add generation to its resource mix in the coming years, without having plans delayed by the queue,” an article in the July/August issue of its Outlet newsletter.
Any generation that enters the SPP market must go through the Generation Interconnection queue process, which allows SPP to validate, study, analyze and ultimately approve of an interconnection agreement, OMPA noted.
A window of opportunity to enter the queue opened this year and will close on Oct. 31. Those who do not enter will not have another chance until April of 2026, which could mean waiting until 2028 for interconnection approval.
OMPA anticipates the need to add additional generation in the 2029-2030 time frame, the joint action agency said.
“However, long-term planning is still underway in response to SPP’s new resource adequacy rules that are forcing power suppliers throughout the region to add to their resources,” the OMPA newsletter story noted.
OMPA in June dedicated the North Fork Solar Farm, which added 120 megawatts to its resource mix. That move came after three different plants OMPA owned a share of closed between 2018-22.
