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12/11 07:59 OGE Energy Corp. Unit to Supply Natural Gas to New Calpine Power
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OGE Energy Corp. Unit to Supply Natural Gas to New Calpine Power Plant Long-Term Contract on Transok Pipeline to Serve Calpine Oneta Energy Center
OKLAHOMA CITY, Dec. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- OGE Energy Corp. (NYSE: OGE) announced today that its natural gas pipeline subsidiary has signed a long-term contract to transport natural gas to fuel a new 1,100-megawatt power plant under construction in Coweta, Okla., near Tulsa in northeastern Oklahoma.
Lead developer of the facility is San Jose, Calif.-based Calpine Corp. (NYSE: CPN), which formed Calpine Oneta Power L.P. earlier this year to develop the power plant project. The new facility will be connected to the Transok pipeline system, operated by Enogex Inc., a subsidiary of OGE Energy.
"We are pleased to announce this long-term contract," said Steven E. Moore, chairman, president and CEO of OGE Energy. "This is exactly the type of growth opportunity we envisioned when we acquired Transok last year. We will continue to pursue these kinds of projects as deregulation of electricity and natural gas encourage further development of the energy infrastructure in our region."
The Transok pipeline will provide 100 percent of the gas transportation requirements for the new power-generating station, designed to burn up to 185 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. Testing is scheduled to begin in November 2001 with full commercial operation expected in June 2002.
"Our agreement with Transok represents the first major announced contract for our Oneta Energy Center since the official groundbreaking in November of this year," said Jeff Rawls, Calpine director for fuel management. "This long-term agreement achieves an important element of our project strategy to obtain reliable and cost-effective natural gas transportation services to power this facility."
Enogex, one of the 10 largest natural gas pipelines in the United States, owns and operates about 10,000 miles of transmission and gathering pipe and has interests in 15 gas processing plants. With principal operations in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas, Enogex also markets electricity, natural gas and natural gas liquids.
OGE Energy also is the parent of Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company (OG&E), Oklahoma's largest electric utility. OG&E serves about 700,000 customers in a 30,000-square-mile service territory in Oklahoma and western Arkansas. OG&E operates eight company-owned power plants fueled by natural gas and low-sulfur Wyoming coal, with a peak generating capacity of nearly 6,000 megawatts.
Calpine, founded in 1984, is dedicated to providing customers with reliable and competitively priced electricity. Calpine is focused on clean, efficient combined-cycle, natural gas-fired generation and is the nation's largest producer of renewable geothermal energy. To date, the company has approximately 26,800 megawatts of base load capacity and 5,100 megawatts of peaking capacity in operation, under construction, and in announced development in 27 states and Alberta, Canada. SOURCE OGE Energy Corp.
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