The Oklahoma Corporation Commission is scheduled Monday to consider dismissing a challenge from Oklahoma Gas & Electric Co. over billing language tied to a major Public Service Company of Oklahoma financing order.
Commissioners called a special meeting to discuss whether the agency still has authority to hear OG&E’s motion after the underlying PSO order was appealed to the Oklahoma Supreme Court on May 22 by Rep. Tom Gann, R-Inola.
The appeal stems from the commission’s approval of PSO’s Northeastern Units 5 and 6 generation projects and related construction work in progress, or CWIP, financing recovery.
Monday’s commission agenda specifically references the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s 1988 Turpen v. Commission decision, which generally holds that the OCC loses authority over a case once an appeal is properly filed with the state Supreme Court.
Commissioners are scheduled to consider “a proposed Order Dismissing Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company’s Motion for Reconsideration and Modification of Order 757495 for Lack of Jurisdiction.”
The agenda suggests the commission may avoid ruling on the substance of OG&E’s constitutional arguments and instead determine it no longer has legal authority to revisit the order while the appeal is pending.
As reported by OKPoliticsToday, OG&E filed the motion May 21 challenging a portion of the commission’s PSO order, which required customer bills to include a line-item reading:
“State Legislature Mandated CWIP Recovery – $X.XX.”
The dispute centers on CWIP financing, authorized under law enacted last year, which allows utilities to recover some financing costs during construction of major generation projects rather than waiting until facilities are operational to lessen the borrowing cost that would be passed on to customers.
In its filing, OG&E argued the mandated language amounted to unconstitutional compelled political speech and improperly used utility bills to assign responsibility to the Legislature for customer charges.
The utility further accused the commission of using customer bills for “political finger-pointing” and “inter-branch grievance messaging.”
OG&E asked commissioners either to strike the language entirely or allow a neutral alternative description for the charge.
The dispute has escalated a broader political conflict between some state lawmakers and the commission over CWIP policy and the OCC’s handling of utility regulation.
Rep. Trey Caldwell, R-Faxon and chair of the House Appropriations and Budget Committee, criticized the commission after OG&E’s filing last week, characterizing the dispute as “nothing more than political antics from the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.”
“The math is simple — per their own sworn testimony CWIP saves consumers money over the long term and makes the system as a whole more secure,” Caldwell said.
Caldwell’s move last year to create the state’s CWIP law through SB998 was opposed by Corporation Commissioners who voted 3-0 in a stand against his bill and later voiced criticism when it won approval in the legislature.
Monday’s meeting is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at the Concourse Theater in the Will Rogers Memorial Office Building complex in Oklahoma City.
