Drummond asks federal commission to deny troubled power plant plan in southeast Oklahoma

Drummond joins Congressman Brecheen and State Senator Burns in opposing the proposed hydroelectric plant on the Kiamichi River.

Drummond asks federal commission to deny troubled power plant plan in southeast Oklahoma 

OKLAHOMA CITY (Sept. 5, 2024) -- Attorney General Gentner Drummond is urging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to deny an application from the Southeast Oklahoma Power Corporation (SEOPC) to build a hydroelectric power plant on the Kiamichi River in Pushmataha County.

In a letter sent last week to the FERC, Drummond said SEOPC has provided only limited information to the commission and noted that the corporation has not requested the proper state licenses or permits for the project. The power plant would have a transmission line extending through Pushmataha and McCurtain counties to provide power for Texas.

Drummond said the project appears to be inconsistent with numerous mechanisms in the State’s Water Settlement Agreement with the Choctaw Nation and the Chickasaw Nation that are intended to preserve the flow of the Kiamichi River and protect the region.

“As the chief law officer of the State of Oklahoma, I will not tolerate violation of Oklahoma law or flagrant disregard for the sovereignty or federal law, protected rights of a tribal nation and similarly situated property owners,” wrote the Attorney General in the letter.

SEOPC has indicated it intends to rely on powers of condemnation to acquire private property from Oklahomans to build the power plant.

“Most of the proud Oklahomans who call the Kiamichi region home have lived there for generations,” Drummond wrote. “I intend, as Oklahoma’s Attorney General, to ensure that their private property rights are safeguarded to the full extent of the law.”

Further, Drummond indicated that SEOPC has not considered the implications of its project under federal law including the Endangered Species Act, the National Historic Preservation Act and the Clean Water Act.

Read the full letter to the FERC.