Enid Event Center has partnered with Oklahoma Gas & Electric to power the facility with 100-percent green energy.
In a move that will enhance the lives of the Enid, Okla., community and residents of northwest Oklahoma, the Global Spectrum-managed Enid Event Center & Convention Hall announced a partnership with Oklahoma Gas & Electric (OG&E) that will power the venue with 100-percent renewable energy.
“Through our companywide energy conservation program, ‘STEP Up’ (Global Spectrum's Total Environmental Plan), we are excited and proud to partner with OG&E to power Enid Event Center with 100-percent renewable energy,” said Keller Taylor, the venue’s general manager. “Our wind power partnership helps us play a part in better enhancing the lives of people in our community and our region.”
“Our desire is to provide a variety of programs, products and services which advance the interests of our customers and our Positive Energy 2020 goal to delay building incremental fossil fuel generation until at least 2020,” added Karen Kurtz, APR, corporate communications with OG&E Energy Corp. “Organizations like Global Spectrum and the City of Enid are leaders in their desire to create and advance consumer education through their sustainability initiatives. Optimizing Oklahoma’s abundant natural resources, wind is an obvious way to elaborate on Oklahoma’s storied history of energy production.
“Using wind power is not new, but how it’s done today with sophisticated technology and farms of turbines up to 350 feet tall has become not only a new industry, but part of the national plan to make America energy independent. OG&E was among the first to enter the commercial wind business in Oklahoma in 2003 and whether generating power from renewable sources like wind or solar, or cleaner fossil fuel like natural gas, we strive to be an innovator and leader in our industry with a balanced approach of affordable, reliable and environmentally responsible generation.”
In short, the Enid Event Center will be powered by Global Spectrum’s purchase of 1,332 Renewable Energy Credits (REC), or 1,332,000 kilowatt-hours of wind energy, to power the venue. The purchase is enough to displace 991 tons of Co2 emissions, equivalent to taking 158 cars off the road or planting 332 acres of trees.
Oklahoma customers can purchase RECs from their local utility, and can choose to purchase 25-, 50- or 100-percent renewable energy from OG&E for as low as $.0035 per kwh premium. Each REC is equal to 1,000 kwh or one megawatt-hour of energy. An REC credit simply indicates that 1,000 kwh or mwh of energy was generated from a renewable energy source.
The initial one-year partnership was a decision that the venue wanted to make.
“We did not have to become 100 percent (wind-powered),” Taylor said. “We chose to go 100 percent. We are continually looking for other green initiatives that would assist in reducing our environmental impact of Enid and northwest Oklahoma.”
Taylor added that the venue intends on extending the partnership as long as RECs are available but that there will not be windmills on the venue’s roof.
OG&E’s renewable energy comes from seven wind farms. The electric energy is stepped down through the company’s transmission system and flows into its distribution system. RECs allow the company to assign renewable energy usage to the customer. Kurtz said that one 60-watt incandescent light bulb that is on for 17 hours uses one kwh of electricity by wind power.
“In general, an individual OG&E residential customer purchasing an average 1,000 kwh of wind power per month for one year is equivalent to removing nine tons of emissions from the air,” Kurtz said.
OG&E has long-term partnerships with the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University, each of whom has its own name-right wind farm. The company also has a 100-percent wind power partnership with the NBA Oklahoma City Thunder that powers the team’s practice facility, offices, community events center and the arena during game days.
“We have plans to work with Global Spectrum in the Enid Event Center to feature renewable energy and energy efficiency education,” Kurtz said. “We plan to bring to the venue during 2015 our mobile experience called the ThunderBolt. It is a result of joint interests with the Thunder. It’s an entertaining and educational exhibit that features facts about the team and players and engages our customers on how they too can save energy. Rumble, the team mascot, does a great job with a special feature video sharing his energy saving tips to make your home more efficient and comfortable.”
Interviewed for this article: Karen Kurtz, (405) 553-3641; Keller Taylor, (580) 616-7361