January 21, 2008

For immediate release: 1/21/08

GRDA joins OG&E, OMPA in purchase of Redbud Power Plant

Vinita -- The Grand River Dam Authority announced Monday, January 21, that it will partner with Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company (OG&E) and the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority (OMPA) to purchase the natural-gas fired Redbud Power Plant near Luther, Oklahoma.

GRDA will be a 36 percent interest owner in the 1,200-megawatt facility, which translates into approximately 400 MW of additional generation for the Authority. OG&E will own 51 percent and OMPA will own the remaining 13 percent. Total sale price for the plant is $852 million.

Kelson Energy, Inc., a Maryland holding company, awarded the bid to the three Oklahoma utilities after taking competitive bids for Redbud and four other power plants.

For GRDA, the additional generation will be added to an already beneficial mixture of 1,480 MW of coal and hydroelectric generation. GRDA owns a two-unit coal-fired power plant near Chouteau as well as hydroelectric generation at Pensacola Dam (Grand Lake, Langley); Robert S. Kerr Dam (Lake Hudson, Locust Grove) and the Salina Pumped Storage Project (W.R. Holway Reservoir, Salina).

“It is no secret that GRDA has been aggressively seeking new generation options for over two years,” said GRDA Chief Executive Officer Kevin Easley. “Power demands within our existing customer loads have grown steadily since the 1990s. This new acquisition will help us meet those demands as well as plan for the future.”

Easley also cited the location of the Redbud plant (near the western edge of GRDA’s service area) and the partnership with other Oklahoma-based utilities as other benefits of the Redbud acquisition.

OG&E serves retail customers across a 30,000 square mile service area in Oklahoma and Arkansas with a total generating capacity of 6,200 MW.

OMPA, like GRDA, is a state governmental agency that transmits and delivers electricity to 35 Oklahoma cities and towns that own their own electric systems.

Headquartered in Vinita, GRDA generates and transmits electricity to customers in a 24 county service area in Oklahoma. GRDA customers include municipals, electric cooperatives and industries.