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Imagine you’re a leader at a generation and transmission cooperative meticulously planning to build twin state-of-the-art natural gas turbine units. The multimillion-dollar proposal wins approval by the full board. Then, with great care and optimism, its engineering, procurement and construction contract is put out before 10 strong vendors.
It only gets one bid.
Such is the post-pandemic reality for Western Farmers Electric Cooperative and other G&T co-ops still battling supply chain kinks and labor shortages to get new generation up and running amid explosive load forecasts that are keeping the pressure on power system hardware and skilled workers.
Despite getting only one bid, WFEC’s plans are advancing for the new units to meet fast-growing load with flexibility and to back up intermittent renewable resources proliferating on the grid. For that, WFEC leaders credit their relationship-building, timeliness and a unique connection with the co-op’s directors.
Paying dividends
“Our board of trustees accepted the fact that this was the best way to go,” WFEC CEO Gary Roulet says. “We have a board that understands the process.”
Roulet says the confidence the board has in WFEC staff is attributable to strong bonds built through dedicated interactions over time at the G&T, which serves 21 distribution co-ops in Oklahoma and New Mexico.
WFEC recently extended its monthly board meetings at its offices in Moore, Oklahoma, to two days to better accommodate its members traveling from New Mexico.
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On the first day, employees from across the G&T present what they’re working on to various board committees, and they all have lunch together. The second day, the board meets. The G&T also hosts board retreats in the spring and the fall.
These gatherings of board and WFEC staff are “keeping them familiar with each other to where they have confidence in each other,” Roulet says. “It has paid dividends.”
A lot of work is still required for a project to earn board approval, he says, “but it is a lot smoother when you’ve got a lot of educated people at the very beginning.”
Roulet, whose career at WFEC spans 50 years, notes that the meetings have enriched the staff as well as the board.
“It has been so long since Western Farmers built any generation that just getting our own employees on board for a new project—the bidding process, the equipment purchase—was a training process,” he says.
Finding the blessing
WFEC broke ground last October on Roulet 12 and 13, named in honor of the longtime CEO. The General Electric LM 6000 PC Aeroderivative Combustion Turbines will join five existing LM 6000s and three GE STAG 100s to boost the Anadarko station’s total output to 650 megawatts.
Turbines and generators for the new units were slated to arrive from Hungary in time for placement at the plant site by the end of March. Commercial operations are set to begin by mid-November 2026.
“The biggest challenge to projects of this nature is the competition for resources,” says Justin Soderberg, WFEC vice president of generation. “That includes skilled labor, engineering and equipment.”
WFEC found securing an engineer, procurement and construction contractor particularly challenging, because most were already booked or focusing on larger bids. But delays in starting the project haven’t been all bad.
“In some ways, the long equipment lead times are a blessing,” Soderberg says. “These stretched out schedules for design and construction have allowed for the use of fewer engineers and skilled labor. In essence, the long lead time on equipment has provided a natural solution to the scarcity of labor.”
Nevertheless, Soderberg cautions that starting early is a must to see a build completed. The G&T already is busy procuring equipment and a contractor for a 400-MW natural gas addition at its Hugo generating station targeted for startup in mid-2029.
“The changes in regulations and global thirst for electricity are providing the biggest challenges to the power industry,” he says. “We will need to stay on top of load forecasts and any additional regulations to ensure we can continue to start projects early enough to stay in front of the curve.”
