Oklaunion Power Plant is a 650-megawatt (MW), coal power plant located southeast of Vernon, Texas, in Wilbarger County, Texas. Its unit is operated by American Electric Power (AEP). The plant began commercial generation in 1986.
| Oklaunion Power Plant | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Country | United States |
| Location | Wilbarger County, near Vernon, Texas |
| Coordinates | 34°4′57″N 99°10′34″W / 34.08250°N 99.17611°W |
| Status | Decommissioned[1] |
| Commission date | 1986 |
| Decommission date | September 30th 2020 [1] |
| Owner(s) | American Electric Power (AEP) 70% Texas Public Utility Board 18% Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority 12% |
| Operator(s) | AEP |
| Thermal power station | |
| Primary fuel | Coal |
| Cooling source | Lake Diversion |
| Power generation | |
| Nameplate capacity | 650 MW |
History edit
The construction for Oklaunion began in 1982 and was commissioned by West Texas Utilities, a forerunner of AEP.[2] The plant commenced commercial generation in December 1986.[3] Initially, the coal was transported from the Rawhide Mine in Wyoming.[4] In 2017, the plant received 719,467 short tons of coal from the North Antelope Rochelle Mine by train according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).[5] The plant's cooling source came from Lake Diversion, located in Archer and Baylor County, Texas.[6]
In September 2018, AEP announced it was shutting down Oklaunion by September 2020, citing production costs and being no longer competitive in the power market.[7][8] The plant was bought by Frontier Energy, which planned to convert it to natural gas over five years.[9]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ a b "Oklaunion Power Plant Remembered as Great Place to Work". October 2020.
- ^ "Groundbreaking For WTU Coal Plant is May 22". Quanah Tribune Chief. May 13, 1982. p. 8. Retrieved October 13, 2018 – via newspaperarchive.com.
- ^ "West Texas Utilities puts Oklaunion plant on line". The Foard County News. January 22, 1987. p. 2. Retrieved October 13, 2018 – via newspaperarchive.com.
- ^ "WTU Signs Fuel Pact With Exxon". Quanah Tribune Chief. May 24, 1981. p. 1. Retrieved October 13, 2018 – via newspaperarchive.com.
- ^ "Coal Data Browser – Shipments to Oklaunion". Energy Information Administration (EIA). Retrieved October 13, 2018.
- ^ Knight, Bridget (April 26, 2017). "Back in the Day: A power behemouth comes online". Times Record News. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
- ^ Navera, Tristan (September 25, 2018). "AEP closing another coal-fired power plant". Columbus Business First. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
- ^ McBride, Landon (September 21, 2018). "How power plant closure will affect Vernon". KFDX-TV. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
- ^ Garza, Jeremy (October 23, 2020). "Frontier Energy buys Oklaunion AEP power plant, plans to convert to natural gas". Texomashomepage.com. Archived from the original on 2021-10-25. Retrieved 2021-05-15.