Focused on electricity ...
GRDA has been producing and delivering abundant, renewable and reliable electricity since the 1940 completion of Pensacola Dam. In the eight-plus decades since, GRDA has grown from a small, local producer of hydroelectricity to a major power supplier across the region. Today, its diverse electric generation portfolio includes gas, coal, water and wind resources. GRDA delivers electricity to customers across a four-state region via a sophisticated energy delivery network.
GRDA is also a proud member of the Southwest Power Pool, the American Public Power Association, the Large Public Power Council and the Municipal Electric Systems of Oklahoma, Inc. – Home Page (meso.org).
GRDA customers include 15 Oklahoma public power communities, resident industries of the MidAmerica Industrial Park, Western Farmers Electric Cooperative, Citizen Potawatomi Tribal Utility Authority (CPN Iron Horse Industrial Park (ironhorsecpn.com) and other customers across a four-state region.
Generation Portfolio
Pensacola Dam
Pensacola Dam, 126 MW
GRDA’s first generation facility, the Pensacola Dam was completed in 1940 and is the longest continuous multiple-arch dam in the world. The dam holds back the 46,500 surface acres of water that create Grand Lake, Oklahoma’s premier recreation destination. Pensacola Dam is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Robert S. Kerr Dam, 128 MW
Robert S. Kerr Dam, 128 MW
Sometimes referred to as the Markham Ferry Project, Kerr Dam is the second hydroelectric facility constructed by GRDA. Completed in 1964, the dam creates Lake Hudson, a 12,000-acre lake with 200 miles of scenic shoreline.
GRDA continues maintenance work on foundation conditions at our Markham Ferry Project’s, Robert S. Kerr Dam Spillway and Lake Hudson. The dam has undergone lifelong scour due to flood management through its spillway. The degradation due to scouring was recognized after a series of significant recent flood events.
While there is not believed to be any immediately critical condition that would progress to a significant issue, GRDA is developing foundation improvements to remediate current conditions. GRDA is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to maintain a variance to its congressionally enacted water management control requirements for the Upper Arkansas River System. This variance requires public notification as to potential effects of shared flood pool distribution.
Current and planned continuation of this variation to operations will maintain Lake Hudson at normal pool elevation with minor response levels into the flood pool due to response time associated with inflow volume. If any more critical issues develop, GRDA will issue a public announcement and post information at this location.
Salina Pumped Storage Project, 260 MW
Salina Pumped Storage Project, 260 MW
The Salina Pumped Storage Project (SPSP) is located on the Saline Creek Arm of Lake Hudson. The six hydroelectric turbines in the powerhouse can be reversed, to also act as pumps. In this mode, water can be moved from Saline Creek into an upper reservoir (W.R. Holway Reservoir) above the project. The first stage was completed in 1968 and the second stage completed in 1971.
Redbud Power Plant 457 MW winter/435 MW summer
Redbud Power Plant, 457 MW winter/435 MW summer
In 2008, GRDA entered the natural gas generation field when it purchased a 36 percent interest in the Redbud Gas Plant.
Wind Generation, 385 MW
Wind Generation, 385 MW
GRDA entered the wind generation field in 2012. Today, it has power purchase agreements with four wind projects across Oklahoma.
Grand River Energy Center (GREC): GREC 2 – 492 MW GREC 3 – 495 MW
Grand River Energy Center (GREC):
GREC 2 – 492 MW
GREC 3 – 495 MW
GREC has been home to GRDA coal-fired generation since the early 1980s. Unit 1 went online in 1982 and was in operation until it was decommissioned in 2019. Unit 2 (equipped with the state’s first scrubber) went online in 1986. In 2015, it was retrofitted with new emissions control technology to meet the latest EPA standards. Today, GREC is also home to the ultra-efficient Unit 3 combined cycle gas generator. The first unit of its kind to be deployed in the western hemisphere, Unit 3 was the most efficient 60 hertz power plant in the world when it began production in 2017.