Oklahoma commission approves storm cost recovery orders

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma Corporation Commission has voted to approve two orders for state utilities to recover natural gas costs incurred during the February 2021 winter storm. The commission approved the orders on Thursday for CenterPoint Energy and Public Service Company of Oklahoma.

Commission Chair Dana Murphy says the PSO decision uses the state’s securitization law to spread the cost over 20 years. The CenterPoint order spreads the cost over 15 years.

Commissioner Bob Anthony voted against the PSO order, writing in a dissenting opinion that the order imposes “onerous, overpriced, nonconsensual debt on Oklahoma’s residential ratepayers.”