Altus Mayor David Webb, and Palma Lough, Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority (OMPA) Member Services Energy Services Specialist, presented residential customers Merle and Karen Brumgard with rebate checks in the amounts of $10,190 and $8,152 for the installation of a geothermal heat pump system at their house, 300 Paseo De Vida, on March 19 on behalf of the city and the OMPA Board of Directors. The rebate checks were made available because of the city’s participation in OMPA’s Oklahoma Comfort Program (OCP) and OMPA’s WISE Rebate Program. Dennis Murphy, Altus Power Meter Reader Supervisor, Mike Villareal, Altus Power Electric Foreman, and Jimmy Wright, owner, Wright’s Comfort Solutions Inc. of Altus, also attended the presentation. OMPA’s OCP uses funds from the Stimulus State Energy Program (SSEP), as administered by the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, to provide residential energy audits and rebates for Geothermal Heat Pump (GHP) systems. OMPA administers the project, with assistance from the Geothermal Resources Council. ClimateMaster Inc., a large Oklahoma-based manufacturer of GHP equipment, provides in-kind contribution to the project in the form of staff time, training for the public and professionals involved in the installation of GHPs, program promotion and other benefits. When considered with other current incentives for GHP installations, GHP systems have never been so attractive. First, OCP will provide customers with rebates of up to $1,000 per ton for qualifying GHP installations. Second, in participating cities, this is in addition to the current OMPA WISE Rebate of $800 per ton for qualifying GHP installations. And third, a Federal Tax Credit of 30 percent of the system cost (with no upper limit) is available to residential customers for qualifying GHP installations. Residential customers who install GHP systems benefit from lower heating and cooling costs. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, GHP systems can save customers 30 to 50 percent off the costs of heating and cooling compared with older systems. In addition, GHP systems help OMPA member cities lower their electricity peaks in the summer and add winter load (when electric energy is at its cheapest). Both of these improve the load factors of the member cities and lower the cities’ bills from OMPA, as well as lowering the Authority’s operational costs, which mitigate future rate increases. OMPA is a state governmental agency created by the legislature to serve cities and towns that own and operate their electric distribution systems and is governed by the members. The Authority presently serves 39 municipally owned electric systems in Oklahoma and is a non-appropriated state agency which is owned by the member cities it serves.