The City of Sand Springs will receive a check for $22,478.67 from Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) as an incentive for installing new energy efficient lighting and HVAC equipment at City facilities, including the Sand Springs Municipal Building and the Sand Springs Pogue Airport Terminal Building, and for the installation of new LED traffic signals at fifteen intersections.

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. PSO pays incentives for qualifying projects based on the total amount of energy savings from the improvements.

It’s estimated the City of Sand Springs’ new energy efficient equipment will save more than 262,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per year, and lower the City’s electrical costs by thousands of dollars each year.

"The incentive and savings certainly validate our investment in energy efficiency, as well as the valued partnership with PSO that helped to make this possible," said City Manager, Rocky D. Rogers. "The Model Cities program helped us identify ways we will conserve energy, promote energy awareness and save money. And that money can be reinvested directly into our community."

Sand Springs Infrastructure Planner, Vernon Smith, noted that the improvements at the Pogue Airport Terminal have already resulted in significant savings.

"This past summer, our utility costs for the terminal building were 26 percent lower than they were for same period in 2010," said Smith. "And that’s despite having one of the hottest summers in recent history."

PSO Customer Services Representative, Tye Hardy, 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 Hardy. "By partnering with the City of Sand Springs to reduce energy costs, their valuable resources can be used for other needed projects."

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.