SWEPCO customers to get credit

According to a press release from SWEPCO, customers should start to see a small monthly credit from a settlement regarding the Turk Power Plant, a commercial 600-megawatt near Fulton, Ark., in Hempstead County. The credit will only be available to SWEPCO in the Texas area.

“The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) approved SWEPCO’s recovery of construction financing costs for the Turk Power Plant in its 2012 rate case. However, the initial PUCT decision faced multiple challenges and a lengthy review process, including a Supreme Court ruling. Recently, SWEPCO and all other parties entered into a settlement which will result in customer credits totaling $147.5 million related to those amounts collected since the initial PUCT decision. These credits will appear on customers’ bills as the Turk Remand Credit Rider for 24 months beginning February 2025.

“SWEPCO requested to recover construction financing costs for the Turk Power Plant in its 2012 rate case. The PUCT approved this request, allowing recovery of costs known as Allowance for Funds Used During Construction (AFUDC). Differences of opinion led some groups to challenge the decision in the court system, up to the Texas Supreme Court. Eventually the court of appeals remanded the proceeding back to the PUCT for further review. On October 1, 2024, a settlement was reached among all parties. The PUCT approved this agreement on January 16.” For those receiving the credit, “The credit will appear on customers’ bills as the Turk Remand Credit Rider for 24 months beginning February 2025. (Not in the form of a check) An average residential customer bill for our SWEPCO customers in Texas is $142.03 before the credit, from about 1,100 kWh usage per month. As a result of this action, they’ll see about $19.04 in credits for months May to October and $13.52 in credits for each of the other months.”

Not all payments will be the same, “the credit will depend on a customer’s current usage. Moreover, “the credit will be based on a factor applied to the customer’s kWh usage and the monthly customer charge. This will not include fuel costs.

Current customers will only be awarded the settlement amount. “Texas customers eligible for a credit will be credited during the time period as described. However, if they move and are no longer a SWEPCO customer, they will not receive a credit.

In December of 2012 SWEPCO announced the “commercial operation of the new 600-megawatt (MW) John W. Turk, Jr. Power Plant near Fulton, Ark., in Hempstead County.”

At the time, Turk, the first ultra-supercritical generating unit went into operation in the U.S., generating electricity more efficiently at higher temperatures, requiring less coal, and producing fewer emissions to generate the same amount of power as existing coal units.

In the 2012 release, the company president said, “The Turk Plant is yet another example of AEP’s long history of advancing coal-fueled generating technologies. AEP built our nation’s first supercritical coal-fueled power plants decades ago. At Turk, we’ve deployed ultra-supercritical generating technology, and built one of the nation’s cleanest, most efficient pulverized coal generating plants,” said Nicholas K. Akins, AEP president and chief executive officer. “Turk will provide reliable, affordable power for our customers and project partners and will provide significant benefits for the area’s economy. I commend our employees and the business and community partners who helped make Turk happen.”

SWEPCO owns 73 percent (440 MW) of the $1.8 billion, Turk Plant. Co-owners are Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. (AECC), 12 percent for its 490,000 members; East Texas Electric Cooperative (ETEC), 8 percent for its 178,000 customers; and Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority (OMPA), 7 percent, serving 39 municipal electric systems in the state.

Note: Cass County Connect also announced the news in its regular County newsletter.