The Oklahoma Corporation Commission released data showing how more than 65 companies split more than $3 billion from utilities as they purchased natural gas to continue providing warmth during the February 2021 winter storm Uri. But there are still some information the public won’t see.
The information from the Commission’s Public Utilities Division detailed how much money each utility paid for services and to which supplying firm the money was paid. It covered costs for Public Service Company of Oklahoma, Empire, CenterPoint Energy, OG&E, ONG, AOG (Arkansas Oklahoma Gas), Fort Cobb Fuel Authority, Panhandle Natural Gas and Canadian Valley Electric Cooperative.
What is not answered in the data was whether the supplying companies raised their prices against the utilities during the storm period and if so, how much the prices were increased. It is a central question raised by some critics who continue to call for a “price-gouging” investigation to be carried out by the Oklahoma Attorney General.
The Corporation Commission, in its order to obtain the cost information, did not make the request of transparency on the many energy firms that received payments from the utilities.
At the time of the 2021 storm, spot prices for natural gas hit the $1,000 level, more than 100 times their amount from a week earlier. At one point, Bloomberg reported supply for next-day delivery at the ONEOK Gas Transportation hub in the state traded at $1,250 per million British thermal units, up from $999 a day earlier.
The Oklahoman, in a weekend story explained that the Southwest Power Pool received the highest payment of $510 million for its sale of power and transmission services to PSO and Empire District Electric Co. based in Joplin, Missouri.
ONG paid NextEra Energy $411 million, making NextEra its biggest customer. Other companies received more than $100 million in payments from electrical providers including Tenaska, Southwest Energy, Koch Energy Services, Macquaire Cook Energy, Sequent Energy, Spire Marketing, Chevron and Mercuria Energy America.
Click below for a spread sheet detailing storm costs by utilities
202200003 PUD Storm Related Costs (1)
Click here to view The Oklahoman