HISTORY
Golden Spread Electric Cooperative, Inc. is a tax-exempt, consumer-owned public utility, organized in 1984 to provide low cost, reliable electric service for its rural distribution cooperative members.
Its 16 Member systems provide service to approximately 248,000 member-consumers located in the Oklahoma Panhandle and an area covering 24 percent of Texas land area including the Panhandle, South Plains and Edwards Plateau Regions.
Golden Spread owns Mustang Station, a 480 megawatt, a gas-fueled, combined cycle generating plant located near Denver City, Texas, as well as Mustang Station Units 4, 5 and 6, two 150 megawatt combustion turbine-generators and one 163 megawatt combustion turbine-generator with inlet chilling located at the Mustang Station site. In 2011 Golden Spread added to its generating fleet Antelope Station, a 168 megawatt generating facility made up of 18 quick start engines located near Abernathy, Texas, and Golden Spread Panhandle Wind Ranch, a 78 megawatt wind facility made up of 34 wind turbines located near Amarillo, Texas. In 2014 and 2015 Golden Spread expanded its generation capacity further by adding 3 GE combustion turbines at Antelope Station, which was re-branded the Antelope Elk Energy Center with the installation of Elk Units 1, 2, and 3, capable of producing a combined 606 megawatts.
WHAT DOES “GOLDEN SPREAD” MEAN?
The term “Golden Spread” was coined in 1954 by announcer Bob Izzard of Amarillo radio station KGNC to promote tourism by publicizing the good weather and travel conditions in the Panhandle area. The word “Golden” was chosen to suggest sunshine and the word “Spread” was picked as an appropriate reference for the large ranch holdings predominant in the area. The Golden Spread, according to Izzard, extends “from Liberal (Kansas) to Lubbock (Texas), and from Sayre (Oklahoma) to Santa Rose (New Mexico).”
Through the influence and support of Gene Howe, publisher of the Amarillo Globe News, Izzard began the Golden Spread Campaign. The term “Golden Spread” has been adopted by merchants, chambers of commerce and tourist promoters. KGNC announcer John Garland Smith, affectionately known as “Cotton John” for his agricultural interest, furthered the name recognition over many years with his 6:00 a.m. farm program introduction: “Good morning and welcome to the best part of the Golden Spread.”
We believe that the name “Golden Spread” signifies the vast riches of this beautiful land. The Golden Spread is blessed with cotton, corn and golden grains waving gently in the summer breeze; cattle feeding under a warm blanket of sunshine; and oil, natural gas and helium abundant beneath the soil. And most importantly, this land is blessed with her people—proud and strong, with character and determination coming from a colorful heritage—working to make this land and life better for all. We chose Golden Spread as our name because it signifies the great potential of this area.
In 2003, five electric cooperatives chose to join with the 11 original members, thus extending the reaches of Golden Spread into the southern South Plains and Edwards Plateau Regions of Texas.