OGE Shores Up Gas-Fired Units, Transmission After Strong Quarter

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--OGE Energy Corporation (NYSE:OGE) (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma), the parent company of Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company, benefited from strong load growth and warmer-than-normal weather during the third quarter. The company, which serves much of Oklahoma and Arkansas, expects to benefit from positive regulatory outcomes and demand growth for the rest of the year. Industrial Info is tracking more than $720 million worth of active and proposed projects from OGE, the bulk of which is attributed to a string of unit replacements at natural gas-fired power plants.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing OGE's active and proposed projects, by project type.

One of OGE's highest-valued projects is slated to kick off toward the end of the year: the $375 million replacement of two units at the Horseshoe Lake Power Station in Harrah, Oklahoma. The company plans to replace 450 megawatts (MW) of natural gas-fired generation from units 6 and 7 with a pair of simple-cycle combustion turbines supplied by General Electric (NYSE:GE) (Boston, Massachusetts), to be called units 11 and 12. OGE says the new units will "deliver increased reliability, improved efficiency and operational flexibility" by replacing the 60-year-old units with models designed to burn hydrogen safely.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project and Plant databases can learn more about Horseshoe Lake from a detailed plant profile and project report.

In this week's quarterly earnings-related conference call, Sean Trauschke, the chief executive officer of OGE, noted Horseshoe Lake recently celebrated its 100th birthday: "While the original units are long since retired, today, we serve an increased demand for electricity to power homes, businesses, transportation, workplaces and lives that could not be imagined back then." He added OGE "just broke ground on Horseshoe Lake for units 11 and 12, another 450 MW of hydrogen-capable natural gas units."

OGE also is planning to begin construction on the $134 million replacement of two units at the Tinker Power Station in Oklahoma City, set to kick off around the same time as the Horseshoe Lake projects. A pair of GE models will replace units 5A and 5B, which together generate 96 MW. The Tinker project is set to wrap up toward the end of 2025, about one year before the Horseshoe Lake project. Subscribers can learn more from a detailed plant profile and project report.

On the transmission and distribution (T&D) side, OGE is partnering with NextEra Energy Incorporated (NYSE:NEE) (Juno Beach, Florida) to develop the 48-mile Minco-Pleasant Valley-Draper Transmission Line from Minco to Pleasant Valley, Oklahoma. It is designed to reduce congestion on existing lines and bolster the flow of energy from western Oklahoma to the fast-growing load centers of Norman, Moore and Oklahoma City in the east, according to NextEra. Site preparation began in May, and the project could be in service as early as January.

In addition to the line itself, the project involves upgrades to substations in Minco, Norman and Oklahoma City, which are being developed on the same schedule. Subscribers can read detailed project reports on the transmission line and the Minco, Norman and Oklahoma City upgrades.

OGE currently expects capital expenditures to total about $6 billion from 2024 to 2028, running from $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion each year. "As the growth materializes, we're going to deploy more capital," Trauschke said in the earnings call. "As the system grows and we add more customers, the number is going to continue to rise in terms of our investment capital."

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project and Plant databases can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.

Subscribers can click here for a full list of detailed reports for active and proposed projects from OGE.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).