The City of Broken Arrow will receive a check for $26,931.96 from Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) as an incentive for retrofitting several City facilities with high-efficiency lighting and heating and cooling equipment.

The recent energy efficiency upgrades qualified for PSO’s Model Cities program, which helps cities and local governments reduce operating costs by identifying and implementing energy efficiency improvement projects. Incentives are paid for qualifying projects based on the total amount of energy the new equipment will save.

It’s estimated the City of Broken Arrow’s new energy-efficient equipment will save 288,279 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per year, and lower the City’s electric bill by approximately $20,000 a year.

"The Model Cities program is a good example of how PSO supports our efforts in reducing energy consumption," said Lee Zirk, General Services Director for the City of Broken Arrow. "The incentive has offset some of the cost we incur from selected energy efficiency upgrades and has enticed us to expand the original scope of some of our investment in energy efficiency projects.

"In being good stewards of public funds, it is important that the City of Broken Arrow take advantage of programs such as this, and at the same time, it sets a positive example for our community by reducing our energy use," said Zirk.

PSO Customer Services Representative Erick Baker said that Model Cities has proven to be a valuable tool in helping PSO-served communities reduce electrical demand and hold down costs.

"We identified a real need for an energy efficiency program that specifically targets cities and local governments, especially as budgets are spread thin," said Baker. "By partnering with the City of Broken Arrow to reduce energy costs, their valuable resources can be used for other needed projects."

"The Model Cities program has helped us to advance projects that might otherwise have been delayed or downsized due to limited funding," added Zirk. "Additionally, this program was used to assist us in developing an Energy Master Plan we will use to identify and implement short and long term strategies to conserve energy and save money. And that money can then be reinvested directly into our community."

PSO, a unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), is an electric utility company serving more than 530,000 customers in eastern and southwestern Oklahoma. With headquarters in Tulsa, PSO has 4,321 megawatts of generating capacity and provides electricity to 230 cities and towns across a service area encompassing 30,000 square miles. News releases and other information about PSO can be found on the World Wide Web at www.PSOklahoma.com.