Of the dozens of bills passed in the Oklahoma legislature this year, at least 10 will have some kind of impact on state regulators at the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. One will make the agency start paying rent on its own building.
A key measure was SB1177, the general appropriations bill and it was explained to commissioners in a recent legislative briefing by Travis Weedn, Policy Advisor and Legislative Liaison for the commission. The measure included $18,364,933 for the OCC, a decrease of more than $2 million.
“The decrease resulted primarily from HB 4050, which adjusted the contributions the agency makes towards the OPRS retirement system from 16.5% per month to 9.5% per month. And that’s for the next five years,” he explained. “So obviously we’ll have less that we have to pay out for our employees for the retirement system.”
He said each agency was reduced also because of House Bill 4050.
Weedn also explained the commission will find itself paying rent to return to its agency headquarters in the Jim Thorpe building once its renovation is completed.
“Our most important request this year with our budget request was the rent, obviously, for moving back to the Jim Thorpe building. Nothing was given for our rent. So, I guess it is like a cut to us. That part is. The reduction wasn’t actually a cut to the agency. But not giving us money to pay our rent when we get back feels like a cut, for sure.”
As Commissioner Brian Bingman asked, the commission has never had to previously pay rent to occupy the Thorpe building.
“But we will be expected to pay rent when we move back into the new building for the first time ever?”
“Correct. Like most agencies, is my understanding. But I think we were somehow grandfathered out of that system where agencies pay rent to OMES and they keep up with the facilities,” answered Weedn, adding, the legislators chose not to take that into consideration.
Other bills have an impact on the commission including HB3177, a court reporter’s bill. Sponsored by Rep. Nick Archer (R-Elk City), the bill was designed to address a shortage of court reporters at the Corporation Commission. The agency’s court system was considered “grossly understaff” as the legal reporters often moved to other agencies and programs where they could make more money. The bill was designed to remove a cap on what court reporters were paid at the Corporation Commission and allow them to receive competitive pay.
Weedn called it a “positive note” for the agency as it “bumps all court reporters from $53,000 to $65,000 on July 1. It won’t affect the commission until August 1.
Senate Bill 1280 is another bill affecting the agency. It is the commission’s plugging fund sunset extension.
“Similar to last year, except for what we realized after we passed the bill extending the sunset on the plugging fund, was that we needed to extend the sunset on the excise tax that funds the plugging fund. So that’s what Senate Bill 1280 did, signed by the governor on May 1. And it will take effect on July 1, so there won’t be a gap in state plugging fund funding.”
Still another measure was HB3466, a cleanup bill repealing a petty cash fund that was no longer in use after the implementation of P cards. It will take effect in November.
A House Direct Resolution, 1090, approved all OCC rules from last rulemaking year. It means the agency’s rules will take effect on August 1.
Senate Bill 1976 was a surety phase-in bill that amended HB1369 and increased the amounts of surety for oil and gas operators and allowed a phase-in of the increases. The governor signed it on May 6.
Senate Bill 1319, was a remediation assistance program. It addresses situations, according to Weedn, where a residential home becomes contaminated by brine or oil and allows cities and counties to be reimbursed from the remediation assistance fund after they acquire title and remove a home.
“And there are safeguards built in within for the fund to be reimbursed if the property is ever sold by the county in the future. So, the $500,000 initial fund or appropriation for the program came through Senate Bill 1159. And as I mentioned, emergency rules are in process now.”
The bill was signed May 20 by the governor, and the emergency took effect the same day.
Another bill considered critical to the data center controversies around Oklahoma is HB2992, the Data Center Ratepayer Protection Act.
The measure will retire large load tariffs to be created to address electric service to any large load customer in accordance with cost causation principles.
“It’s the large load customers specifically applying to hyperscale data centers and cryptocurrency mining facilities that require greater than 75 megawatts of load. It requires notice to be provided to the OCC commissioners and adjacent landowners within 60 days of land being purchased for one of these large load customers to develop,” explained Weedn.
The measure applies only to adjacent landowners.
“It also accounts for, and I’m not real familiar about how that development has been laid out, but my understanding is that it’s not just the company that purchases the land. It might be that the company hires a group to go out and purchase land and build blocks or parcels of land for these data centers. And so, it would apply to those who are contracted to buy land as well. So that was signed by the governor on May 11 and takes effect on July 1 of this year.”
House Bill 4338, the Brine Development Act, involves landowners and developers in the use of produced water for mineral extraction. The impetus was the extraction of iodine from the produced water. The will sets out an application process requirement that such a permit must be obtained from the Corporation Commission. The agency’s Oil and Gas Technical Division is in the process of reviewing the new law and determining whether new rules are needed. Gov. Stitt signed the bill May 12 and it took effect the same day.
“They want very specific rulemaking authority. So, I don’t know what this is going to require, but I’ve brought it up to our general counsel. And I think it’s something that we need to figure out.”
House Bill 3464, the Oklahoma Energy Storage Resource Safety Act, creates regulations on battery storage and solar facilities but not to be enforced by the OCC. Commissioners were told more information will be coming but it won’t be a “huge enforcement load” on the agency.
Often, the commission is asking to create reports such as last year’s Nuclear Study. But Weedn said one bill, SB1877, simply requires all agencies to submit the reports through a centralized filing system with the Secretary of State.
A few measures that would have directly affected the commission failed in the legislature. Weedn pointed out that House Bill 1261, a measure opposed by the commission because it would have moved the records services department of the agency’s Transportation Division to the Department of Labor, was one such measure. It didn’t get a House hearing. Another bill, House Bill 2155, the Renewable Energy Facility Act, would have created a permitting process at the OCC for all renewable facilities, something Weedn said would “have been a pretty substantial new task.” It was in conference committee but not taken up this session. One other measure, SB915, proposed baseline solar farm regulations but failed to get support.
