The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on May 22 granted Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co. the approval to acquire two power plants in Oklahoma for approximately $53.5 million.

Under the deal, the OGE Energy Corp. subsidiary will acquire the 360-MW Shady Point coal- and gas-fired plant in Le Flore County, Okla., from AES Corp. for $27.5 million, and the 146-MW Oklahoma Cogeneration gas-fired, combined-cycle facility in Oklahoma City from private individuals and trusts for the benefit of family members of these private individuals for $26 million.

Later on May 22, OGE Energy and Oklahoma Gas and Electric, or OG&E, announced they had completed the acquisition.

OG&E has been purchasing the output from the power plants under long-term agreements. Shady Point's agreement expired on Jan. 15, and the Oklahoma Cogen agreement is set to expire on Aug. 31.

With the end of the Shady Point agreement, OG&E had to acquire 168 MW of summer-rated capacity by summer 2019, 305 MW of summer-rated capacity in 2020, and 338 MW of summer-rated capacity by 2023 to remain compliant with the Southwest Power Pool's planning reserve margin requirements. (FERC docket EC19-49)