Amber-Pocasset Public Schools will be awarded an incentive check for $3,730.02 from Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) for its participation in PSO’s Smart Schools Program.

Smart Schools is offered by PSO to help school districts reduce operating costs by identifying and implementing energy efficiency improvement projects.

The Amber-Pocasset district earned its incentive for retrofitting old rooftop AC units on the high school, and for installing new high efficiency units in areas of the high school that were previously either unconditioned or conditioned by window units. The amount of the incentive was determined by the total amount of energy the new equipment will save.

It’s anticipated the new high efficiency AC units will conserve more than 15,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year.

"The Smart Schools program helped us identify ways we can conserve energy and save money, and that money can be reinvested directly into our classrooms," Amber-Pocasset Superintendent Chad Hance said. "The incentive from PSO certainly validates our investment in energy efficiency. But it’s also important that our school district sets a positive example for our students and our community and reducing our energy use is a good way to help do that."

"We identified a real need for an energy efficiency program that specifically targets schools, especially as budgets are spread thin," said Donna Satterlee, customer

service representative for PSO. "By partnering with Amber-Pocasset Public Schools 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.