The City of Broken Bow will receive a check for $2,635.69 from Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) as an incentive for making energy efficient improvements at City facilities, including the fire station and City Hall. Improvements included complete lighting retrofits at both buildings involving a total of 156 fixtures.

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 Broken Bow’s new energy efficient equipment will save more than 30,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per year, and save the City an estimated $1,800 per year in energy costs.

"The incentive and savings certainly validate our investment in energy efficiency," said City Manager, Vickie Pieratt. "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."

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.

"We identified a real need for an energy efficiency program that specifically targets cities and local governments, especially as budgets are spread thin," said

Wofford. "By partnering with the City of Broken Bow 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 532,000 customers in eastern and southwestern Oklahoma. With headquarters in Tulsa, PSO has 4,308 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.