Choctaw Memorial Hospital in Hugo has received a check for $11,955.06 from Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) as an incentive for retrofitting the facility with high-efficiency lighting.

The recent lighting retrofit 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 hospital’s new energy-efficient lighting will save 105,742 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per year.

Administrator, Marcia O’Connor, says the energy-saving improvements will be a huge benefit to the hospital.

"As we look to hold down the cost of providing health care to citizens of our community, we need to look for ways to reduce our own costs and PSO’s Model Cities program has helped show how we can do that," said O’Connor. "In the first month after retrofitting the lighting, we saw a $1,000 decrease in our electric bill – and that was with triple digit temperatures. Combine the PSO rebate with the savings from improved energy efficiency and it looks like we’ll recover the cost of the new lights in less than a year."

PSO Community Affairs Manager, Harolynn Wofford, said that Model Cities has proven to be a valuable tool in helping PSO-served communities reduce electrical demand and hold down costs.

"PSO is very pleased to have partnered with the Choctaw Memorial Hospital on this project," said Wofford. "This lighting retrofit is a perfect example of how energy efficiency improvements result in real savings. And not just for the hospital, but for the citizens it serves."

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.