Combined-cycle power plant located in Chouteau, Okla. Photo courtesy of Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Golden Spread Electric Cooperative’s natural gas-fired plant near Abernathy, Texas. Photo courtesy of Neal Hinkle
If viewing our digital edition, click here to watch a video of OKL’s interview process at WFEC and its generating plant in Anadarko, Okla. Access our digital edition at
www.ok-living.coop or find our FREE app at the Apple Newsstand, Google Play or Amazon.
Oklahoma generation and transmission cooperatives that supply electric power to your distribution cooperative use these fuels:
Coal, Natural Gas, Oil, Hydro and Wind
All three of these G&T co-ops own electric generation and transmission assets and are proud to provide their membership a diverse generation fuel mix that enables distribution systems to provide safe, reliable, and affordable power to consumers. Each G&T, however, is unique in its own way. Let’s find out how they work on your behalf.
Western Farmers Electric Cooperative WFEC was incorporated in 1941 when nine distribution cooperatives in western Oklahoma came together to secure power supply at rates that farmers and industrial developers could afford. Today, WFEC is proud to own and maintain a diverse generation portfolio
and a reliable transmission system. The cooperative owns three generating plants located strategically across the state: a coal-fired plant in Hugo, Okla., a natural gas-fired plant in Mooreland, Okla., and a combined-cycle plant in Anadarko, Okla. (A combined-cycle plant involves the combination of one or more gas turbines and steam turbines.) WFEC has a total generating capacity of 1,725 megawatts, which includes
366 megawatts acquired through contracts with wind farms. In 2012, coal accounted for 30 percent of the power produced by WFEC, while natural gas accounted for 16 percent. Hydropower, delivered through an agreement with the Southwestern Power Administration, accounted for 6 percent, 13 percent came from wind generation, and the remaining 35 percent from other power suppliers. Power from other suppliers is purchased when a supplier sells elec- tricity for a more economical price than it would take to run the G&T coop- erative’s own units to generate electricity. Gary Roulet, WFEC’s chief executive officer, has devoted nearly 40 years
of his life to a career at the cooperative. Roulet started at WFEC in 1974 doing computer and engineering work. “At that time, employees had the opportunity to work in a lot of different areas because it was a much smaller company,” Roulet says. Currently, WFEC employs over 350 people. Unlike today’s employees,
Roulet had the privilege of working in different areas of the cooperative in- cluding corporate planning, corporate strategies, and senior management. He became CEO in 2003. What has kept him going for all these years? He says it is the cooperative family and their genuine concern for improving the qual- ity of life of those they serve. “Our staff enjoys a great amount of interaction with our distribution
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members. We enjoy being a part of their day-to-day operations,” Roulet says. “They are our members who sit on our board and select the direction we go.” The board of a G&T is comprised of a trustee from each member distribu- tion cooperative. The membership elects their co-op board of trustees, and the board, in turn, elects one representative to serve on the G&T board on behalf of the cooperative. Throughout the years, the board and management of WFEC have placed an emphasis on the diversification of fuels in an effort to minimize the impact of fuel volatility and environmental regulation. Compliance with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and with other regulatory agencies on the local, regional, and national levels, has challenged these men and women to strategically plan while ensuring co-op generation is environmen- tally friendly and is delivered in a safe, reliable, and affordable manner. Recent and future regulations impacting coal-fired plants have put many G&Ts across the country in a position to minimize coal production and/or add more re- newables and natural gas to the fuel mix. Thankfully, WFEC is strategically positioned for the future. “We have had a long-term concern with EPA rules and the future of coal generation,” Roulet says. “We believe in coal generation; it helps us to keep rates low for our consumers. But we do have a plan if the worst happens. We’re moving toward adding more gas and renewable generation. That in itself is likely to impact consumers’ bills, but our hope is not to see huge jumps in electric bills. The question is how fast the EPA will move in this direction.” Based on a 1 to 2 percent member load growth, among other factors, WFEC is planning to build a new power plant on land that it already owns in Mooreland, Okla. This natural gas-fired, state-of-the-art plant could be com- pleted as early as 2017 but is more likely to come online in 2019.
KAMO Power The “Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma” (KAMO) Power cooperative was incorporated in 1940 to provide the transmission structure to deliver power generated by the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA) in northeastern Oklahoma. According to Chief Executive Officer Chris Cariker, KAMO was formed through the efforts of State Senator Jack Rorschach who at the time thought having a “paper” G&T (a cooperative that conducts electric generation and transmission paperwork) would enable power to be transmitted to the four
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