Reps. Tom Gann and Kevin West argue Oklahoma Natural Gas customers were denied due process after learning about a proposed $29 million rate increase only after the deadline to intervene had already passed.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Two Republican state lawmakers are asking the Oklahoma Supreme Court to overturn an Oklahoma Corporation Commission decision that prevented customers from participating in Oklahoma Natural Gas Co.’s latest rate case, arguing ratepayers were effectively shut out of the process.
Rep. Tom Gann, R-Inola, and Rep. Kevin West, R-Moore, filed an appeal after an OCC administrative law judge denied attempts by customers to intervene in Oklahoma Natural Gas Co.’s request for a roughly $29 million rate increase. If approved, it would mark the fourth ONG rate increase approved by the commission in as many years and increase the average residential customer’s bill by an estimated $1.53 per month.
In their petition, the lawmakers contend the OCC established a March 27 deadline to intervene in the case, but customers were not notified of the proceeding until late April. They argue the timeline deprived ratepayers of due process and effectively barred them from participating.
“This case was rigged from the start to keep ONG ratepayers out,” Gann said in a statement. “The federal courts have said utility customers have constitutional due process rights — including a right to timely and adequate notice about these cases. We are asking the Supreme Court to uphold customers’ rights and require the OCC to change its rules to respect them.”
The lawmakers also criticized the commission’s handling of the case, noting the OCC conducted an eight-minute hearing on the merits with no witness testimony or cross-examination after denying customer participation. The utility, the OCC’s Public Utility Division and the Attorney General’s Office all agreed the $29 million increase should be approved as requested. Commissioners are expected to make a final decision later this year.
“The feedback we’ve received from constituents has been great,” Kevin West said. “Oklahomans appreciate that we aren’t just talking about standing up for them and fighting against inflated utility bills, we’re actually doing it.”
The appeal is the latest in a series of utility-related challenges filed by Gann, Kevin West and, in many cases, Rep. Rick West, R-Heavener. According to the lawmakers, they now have 11 utility appeals pending before the Oklahoma Supreme Court involving ONG, OG&E and Public Service Company of Oklahoma matters. The cases collectively challenge approximately $500 million in rate increases, $3.2 billion in 2021 winter storm bonds, $11 billion in fuel charges and $1.3 billion in new capacity preapprovals. Six of the appeals are fully briefed and awaiting decisions from the state’s highest court.
To date, however, Gann’s legal challenges have not resulted in a court reversing an OCC-approved rate increase, fuel charge, bond issuance or utility preapproval. His most significant success has been procedural. In an April decision involving a PSO rate case, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that utility customers have standing to appeal Corporation Commission ratemaking decisions because they are directly affected as ratepayers, even though the court rejected Gann’s appeal because his objections had not first been raised before the commission.
That ruling has shaped Gann’s current strategy. He and other customers have increasingly filed entries of appearance and sought to intervene in utility proceedings in an effort to preserve issues for future appeals. More than 300 PSO customers have filed similar entries in that utility’s pending request for an additional $600 million rate increase, many of them objecting to electricity costs associated with infrastructure planned for the proposed Emirates Global Aluminum smelter in Inola. A hearing on those intervention requests is scheduled for June 25.
Under court rules, ONG, the OCC and the Attorney General’s Office have 30 days to respond to the lawmakers’ latest appeal.
