Electric Transmission America (ETA), a joint venture of American Electric Power and MidAmerican Energy Holdings, has formed a joint venture company with OGE Energy Corp. to build and own new electric transmission assets in Oklahoma.

The joint venture, Horizon Transmission LLC, will build approximately 170 miles of extra-high voltage 765-kV transmission from the Kansas-Oklahoma border north of Woodward, Oklahoma, that will link into OGE's station at Woodward and then extend west into the Oklahoma panhandle to a new station that will be built near Guymon, Oklahoma.

Southwest Power Pool's (SPP) estimated cost for the project is approximately $500 million based on SPP's Extra-High Voltage Overlay Study, but final costs will depend on the routing of the line, equipment and commodity costs. Anticipated completion would be in 2013. AEP's ownership share of the joint venture will be 25 percent.

"This collaboration with Oklahoma Gas and Electric will build a segment of a larger extra-high voltage transmission highway that has been proposed by the Southwest Power Pool to enhance reliability and support development of the sizable renewable generation resources available in the region," said Michael G. Morris, AEP chairman, president and chief executive officer. "Delivering power from the most viable regions for wind generation to large population centers requires a bigger, stronger transmission system. Long-term regional transmission planning as well as broad allocation of costs will allow the Southwest Power Pool, and the United States as a whole, to rely on more diverse generation resources in the future."

"The Southwest Power Pool has recognized that EHV transmission can reduce the cost of transmission investments, both economically and environmentally," said Susan Tomasky, president, AEP Transmission. "One 765-kV line on a 200-foot right of way can carry as much electricity as six 345-kV single-circuit lines requiring 900 feet of right of way. And, the 765-kV line would cost less than half as much to build. EHV transmission lines also operate more efficiently than lower-voltage lines, reducing the amount of electricity that needs to be generated by reducing line loss -- electricity lost during transport. The new 765-kV designs that would be used for this project have line losses of less than one percent, compared with losses as high as 10 percent for a 345-kV alternative."

The ETA-OGE joint venture anticipates filing for the necessary state and federal regulatory approvals for the project in the coming months.

ETA also has formed a joint venture with Westar to build 765-kV transmission in Kansas that will connect with the OGE project at the Kansas-Oklahoma border. The combined projects encompass the first two phases of the Extra-High Voltage Overlay Study plan released March 3 by SPP.