The Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority (OMPA) was presented with the Clarence Fulkerson Electric System Achievement Award on April 28 at the annual MESO Public Power Conference in Norman.
The award is designed to recognize a MESO member that distinguishes itself during the year for exemplary system enhancement, improvement, reliability or other innovative efforts to improve municipal power in Oklahoma. OMPA met those criteria with the development of the Charles D. Lamb Energy Center (CDLEC), a 103-megawatt natural gas plant in north Kay County that is set to be commercially operational in May of this year.
Accepting the award on behalf of OMPA was Board Chairman Charles D. Lamb, the Mayor of Edmond and the plant’s namesake, as well as Umesh Sadalge, Senior Facilities Engineer at OMPA and the agency’s project manager for the CDLEC.
Utilizing a simple-cycle combustion turbine, the CDLEC will primarily be used as a peaking plant, capable of quick starting during the warm summer months when demand is high. Its construction site, which is six miles east of member city Blackwell and seven miles north of member city Ponca City, was chosen because of its proximity to a 345,000-volt transmission line and a Southern Star Gas natural gas pipeline. The size of the site will also allow OMPA the opportunity to expand in the future.
An official dedication ceremony for the CDLEC has been set for June 19.
The Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority (OMPA) is a wholesale power company owned by 40 municipal electric utilities. OMPA provides economies of scale in power generation and related services to support community-owned electric utilities. The members of OMPA serve approximately 250,000 Oklahomans.
