Here comes the heat

Electric Co-ops prepare for reliability ahead of summer peaks

It’s summer in Oklahoma and fixin’ to get hot.

Last year, the U.S. experienced its fourth hottest summer on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Summer 2025 is shaping up to be similar.

In preparation for the heat, Oklahoma’s electric cooperatives have taken a host of forward-looking steps and preventive measures to ensure grid reliability during the summer months.

“We have conducted maintenance of our units and have taken measures to speed up unplanned maintenances with back-up generators,” said Gary Roulet, CEO of Anadarko-based Western Farmers Electric Cooperative (WFEC), a generation and transmission cooperative serving 17 co-ops in Oklahoma and four in New Mexico.

WFEC added 80 MW of wind capacity from a New Mexico-based wind farm resulting in a more favorable generation position for WFEC than last summer. Roulet added the cooperative has secured ample supply of natural gas as well as coal inventory, and hydro allocations are higher than last year following a good amount of rainfall.

“We have met all requirements with the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) with adequate capacity and reserves for the summer,” Roulet said.

As a member utility of SPP, WFEC goes through a rigorous process of preventive maintenance and preparation to ensure adequate generation and transmission capacity for summer and winter. The data must be approved by SPP to validate adequate resources are operable and in place to meet energy peak demands. The spring maintenance efforts do not include winterization measures that will come later in the year.

A similar preemptive approach is observed by most electric utilities nationwide, although regional and seasonal factors vary from region to region.

“Summer temperatures place significant stress in generation and transmission assets. We have recently completed a number of projects to ensure system capacity and reliability ahead of summer,” said Ted Hilmes, CEO of KAMO Power, a Vinita-based generation and transmission cooperative serving nine co-ops in Oklahoma and eight in Missouri. “In addition to system upgrades, we look forward to a new 425-MW natural gas plant that will be operational in late 2026 and will help us meet distribution cooperative members’ needs.”

While Oklahoma’s electric cooperatives are prepared for summer reliability, the North American Electric Reliability Corp.’s (NERC) is warning of potential energy supply shortfalls in parts of the U.S. during periods of extreme weather amid climbing electricity demand and tighter reserve margins.

NERC’s summer grid assessment covers the period from June to September; it evaluates generation resources, transmission adequacy as well as energy sufficiency to meet projected summer peak demands and operating reserves.

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), a trade organization that represents more than 900 electric co-ops in the nation expressed concern over NREC’s warnings and underscored the importance of sound energy policies that can secure a more stable energy future.

“Now more than ever, we need smart energy policies that prioritize reliability, affordability and put Americans first,” NRECA CEO, Jim Matheson, said. “We look forward to continuing to work with policymakers to meet this challenge and keep the lights on across the nation.”

REGIONAL SUMMER FORECAST:

Two of three generation and transmission cooperatives that serve Oklahoma’s distribution electric cooperatives, Western Farmers Electric Cooperative and Golden Spread Electric Cooperative, are part of the Southwest Power Pool (SPP), a regional transmission organization. The other generation and transmission electric cooperative, KAMO Power, one of the owners of Associated Electric Cooperative, is a part of the Southeastern Electricity Reliability Council (SERC-Central), a regional reliability organization.

Below are NERC’s assessments for SPP and SERC-Central:

Southwest Power Pool (SPP) Expected resources are sufficient to meet operating reserve requirements under normal peak-demand and outage scenarios. Above-normal summer peak load, low wind conditions, and higher-than-normal forced outages could result in the need for operation mitigations (e.g., demand response and transfers from neighboring systems) and emergency energy alerts (EEAs).

SERC-Central Expected resources meet operating reserve requirements under assessed scenarios. More severe conditions (e.g., above-normal summer peak load and outage conditions) result in the need for additional non-firm transfers available from neighbors.