Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt’s handling of two controversial rate requests is coming back to haunt him.
ClimateWire explored how Pruitt supported OGE in a $1 billion rate hike three years ago but fought a $130 million requested rate increase by Public Service Company of Oklahoma. OGE is the state’s largest utility while PSO is the second largest.
In each request, the utility wanted Corporation Commission approval to upgrade power plants in order to comply with the Environmental Protection agency’s rules on haze and mercury. ClimateWire turned to former Corporation Commissioner Jim Roth, a Democrat as a source for some of the critical comments against Pruitt.
“The buzz saw PSO ran into here was more political. They made a commercial decision, but some at the Corporation Commission and the AG’s office felt like no one should deal with Obama’s EPA.”
ClimateWire said the two rate cases offer a glimpse into how Pruitt has approached the complicated air quality rules he may soon be charged with enforcing.