In just over two years Oklahoma Gas & Electric (OG&E) completed a fast-track, $200 million program energized in March 2010. OG&E hired Burns & McDonnell to orchestrate this interconnection — 121 mi of 345-kV transmission and four substations — to route wind power generated in northwestern Oklahoma to OG&E’s load center in Oklahoma City.

“This is an important milestone in the ongoing development of renewable energy in our state," says Pete Delaney, OGE Energy Corp. chairman, president and CEO. “The new line supports a more robust build out of Oklahoma's wind potential; producing revenue for landowners, creating jobs, increasing tax revenues in northwestern Oklahoma, and delivering renewable energy to Oklahoma consumers.”

Program design included 345-kV line with double-bundled, aluminum conductor, steel-reinforced 1590 Lapwing; two steel, overhead ground wires; self-supporting, single, steel structures on drilled-shaft foundations; two greenfield substations; modifications to two existing substations; and preliminary layout for a future substation.