An administrative law judge at the Oklahoma Corporation Commission has refused to delay Oklahoma Gas and Electric’s request for a nearly $78 million rate hike.
The Sierra Club wanted the judge to require OGE to prove its 2016 decision to install scrubbers at the firm’s Sooner Plant coal-fired units were the right decision. The Club maintained the rate hike hearing shouldn’t move ahead without the information.
The environmental group contends OGE should have added wind power to its generating fleet in order to keep costs reasonable for its customers.
OGE filed its latest rate hike request late in 2018 asking for Corporation Commission approval to raise rates by $77.6 million a year. The increase would amount to 4.4 percent. OGE asked for the rate increase to recover the cost of $534 million spent on installing the scrubbers at the Sooner Plant. It also wants the additional revenue to pay for $75 million on converting two other coal units at its power plant in Muskogee.