Public Service Company of Oklahoma indicated it is ready to help Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond in any way possible as he pursues legal action against those firms that wrongly benefitted from extreme natural gas prices during the 2021 Winter Storm Uri.
Wayne Greene, a spokesman for PSO in Tulsa told OK Energy Today, “The team at PSO stands ready to provide the Attorney General with information that may be useful in his investigation.”
He said the company commended the Attorney General for his commitment to investigating the practices of commodity marketers during the storm. It appreciated his diligence in deploying the expertise and authority of his office to investigate price spike concerns.
“Our customers’ welfare was our priority throughout this crisis. We took decisive action to serve customers and had no role in setting prices,” explained Greene.
“Despite the significant costs associated with our efforts, we acted promptly to address the needs of our customers and did not profit from those charges.”
Attorney General Drummond put into motion Tuesday the process of choosing outside legal counsel to aid his office in pursuing whatever legal action might be taken against unnamed natural gas marketers.
In announcing the decision to proceed with action and an attempt to recover billions of dollars, Drummond said he was “profoundlly troubled by the conduct that he discovered in the course of his review.”
“I will do everything in my power as Attorney General to seek justice for Oklahoma and hold accountable those responsible.”
He said a possible lawsuit would likely be the “most significant” lawsuit by the state in its history. In announcing his decision, Drummond said utilities in the state did nothing wrong.
“They simply bought at market because they had a duty to buy the market.”