Published: September 19, 2008 10:38 pm      

9-20 OKC Watch

6 Oklahomans make Forbes’ list

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Six Oklahomans, led by Tulsa’s George Kaiser, have made the Forbes.com list of the nation’s 400 richest people.

Kaiser, 66, was listed among the top 20 — the highest a state resident has ever ranked. Kaiser’s wealth rose to $13 billion.

Harold Hamm, 62, of Enid, chairman of Continental Resources, was listed as the 42nd richest American with a net worth of $7 billion.

Two Oklahoma City men, Aubrey McClendon and Tom Ward, both 49, ranked 134 and 155 respectively.

Forbes shows McClendon, president of Chesapeake Energy Corp., with $3 billion. Ward, chairman of SandRidge Energy Corp., has an estimated wealth of $2.7 billion.

Lynn Schusterman, 69, of Tulsa maintained her estimated worth at $2.5 billion, while Oklahoma City’s David Green, 66, founder of Hobby Lobby stores, is worth $1.7 billion.

Also, T. Boone Pickens, the Holdenville native who lives in Texas but has pumped millions into his alma mater, Oklahoma State, was ranked No. 131 with an estimated fortune of $3.1 billion.

Oklahoma utility focuses on wind energy

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma’s largest electric utility does not plan to build a fossil fuel-powered plant for at least the next 12 years and will instead focus on wind power and other alternative energy sources to meet growing demand, a utility official said Friday.

The action followed the Oklahoma Corporation Commission’s denial of a request to raise customer rates to help pay for a proposed 950-megawatt, $1.8 billion coal-fired power plant. Plans for the plant, proposed for Red Rock in north central Oklahoma, were abandoned.