The three-member Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) on Friday gave public utility status for a regional $3.5 billion natural gas and wind power-related transmission project, calling it a means of making the oil/gas-dominated state a “literal powerhouse” for other states. Oklahoma’s action is just a very preliminary step for a project that has yet to outline its multi-state route eastward to Tennessee.

As the newest member of the OCC, Patrice Douglas, who joined the regulatory panel earlier in October, did not vote on the case.

While the OCC emphasized the DC transmission project’s ultimate tie to future gas-fired baseload generation, a Houston-based spokesperson for the project noted the Clean Line is not involved in any related generation sources — wind or gas — and it is concentrating on developing a link for the wind resources in western Oklahoma and adjacent areas to reach markets to the east.

The OCC approved public utility status for the Plains & Eastern Clean Line, a high-voltage, direct current (DC) transmission project bidding to connect wind-generated electricity in western Oklahoma, southwest Kansas and the Texas Panhandle with load centers to the east. The power will be supplemented by the area’s robust supplies of natural gas-fired generation to smooth out the variable wind power loads, according to the OCC.

OCC Chair Dana Murphy predicted the project should help Oklahoma’s economic development and job creation, and the backers of the project promise to provide “jobs, clean air and energy security” by creating a transmission link for unlocking vast wind power potential in the region.

Backed by Houston-based Clean Line Partners, a spokesperson for Plains and Eastern Clean Line Oklahoma LLC called the OCC’s action “a major milestone,” but the Clean Line website also cites many permitting, regulatory and financing steps that have to be completed over a three- to five-year period before construction can begin on the 7,000 MW capacity long-distance DC transmission line.

“Support is growing in Memphis and throughout the Southeast for high voltage direct current [HVDC] projects to deliver cost-effective clean energy,” the spokesperson said. “Last week the Memphis Light, Gas and Water [MLGW] Division Board of Commissioners passed unanimously a resolution in support of the development of HVDC transmission to transport clean energy to western Tennessee. The Board noted in the resolution that it will work cooperatively with TVA to bring additional low-cost, clean energy to benefit its customers.”

OCC’s Murphy said that the evidence the regulators amassed in reviewing the project points to Clean Line having a positive economic impact on Oklahoma that exceeds $4 billion. “By finding that [the project] is a public utility, the OCC has assured Clean Line will provide reports on its progress and plans for the project that will be available for public inspection,” she said.

In taking the action, the OCC directed its staff to develop what it called “new regulations to cover this new type of situation, and it expects to have rules for closer regulation of Clean Line and other transmission-only utilities to be ready for legislative approval during the upcoming session of the Oklahoma legislature.

Murphy also noted it was important to emphasize that the regulators’ action did not include giving the power of eminent domain to the transmission project backers.

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