SHREVEPORT, La., April 11, 2011 – AEP Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO) today announced a Request for Proposals (RFP) for long-term renewable energy to help fulfill energy-supply requirements for its customers.
 
The request was issued for SWEPCO by American Electric Power Service Corporation as part of the Louisiana Public Service Commission’s Renewable Energy Pilot Program. Proposals for approximately 31 megawatts of new renewable-energy resources deliverable to the Southwest Power Pool (SPP), are due June 15, 2011.
 
New Renewable Resources shall be interconnected with the transmission facilities of the SPP, the transmission or distribution facilities of SWEPCO, or must be able to obtain firm transmission service to SPP or SWEPCO. The Point of Delivery for all New Renewable Resources shall be the interconnecting point to SPP or the distribution facilities of SWEPCO. SWEPCO is seeking qualified bids from renewable-energy providers that place new generation into service between January 2011 and December 2014. A pre-bid technical conference and bidders conference will be held April 28 at 9:30 a.m. (CDT) at the Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce.
 
“We believe renewable energy can be an important part of the generating resources serving our customers in Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas,” said Venita McCellon-Allen, SWEPCO president and chief operating officer. “It can further diversify our generating fleet and continue our commitment to providing affordable, reliable electric service.”
 
Some of the generation technologies eligible to bid into the RFP include wind, solar, hydroelectric, geothermal, biomass and urban waste products, including landfill gas.
 
The RFP and related information can be accessed at www.swepco.com/go/rfp.
 
SWEPCO serves more than 520,000 customers in western Arkansas, northwest Louisiana, northeast Texas and the Texas Panhandle. Headquartered in Shreveport, La., SWEPCO owns 5,273 megawatts of generating capacity.
 
American Electric Power owns more than 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the United States. AEP is one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, with 5.2 million customers in 11 states. The company is based in Columbus, Ohio.