Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond drew support from at least one utility and also a consumer advocacy group when he announced a decision to target natural gas marketers over their reaping billions of dollars during the 2021 winter storm.
During his announcement, he said utilities in the state were not to blame for the historic cost of natural gas.
“We support any effort by the Attorney General to claw back costs charged to OG&E and its customers by any natural gas marketers who he finds exploited the situation and return those funds to customers,” stated Oklahoma Gas and Electric company, one of the several utilities that sought and won approval for rate increases that consumers will be paying for over the next quarter of a century.
The utility said it appreciated Gentner Drummond’s “thorough” review of possible market manipulation. It pointed out the Corporation Commission also found that the firm’s 2021 operations and costs from the storm were “reasonable and prudent.”
Sean Voskuhl, State Director of the AARP in Oklahoma called it welcome news that the Attorney General plans “potential legal action” over alleged market manipulation.
“Frustrated utility customers are demanding to know why they are paying for a “once-in-a-generation” storm for decades,” he said, adding that the companies who reaped billions of dollars on the backs of hard-working Oklahomans must be held accountable.
“Oklahoma utility customers want action to be taken against the companies who bilked customers out of billions of dollars in a matter of days during Winter Storm Uri and further demand the recovered funds are returned to customers immediately.”