A lawsuit that had accused Oklahoma Gas and Electric of fraudulent collection of electric utility franchise fees in Norman was recently dismissed by a Cleveland County District Judge.
Non Doc, the state capitol based online news site, recently reported Judge Thad Balkman took the action in the attempted class-action lawsuit.
The suit had been filed in October 2023 by former Norman City Councilwoman Alison Petrone and her husband. They alleged OG&E had improperly collected a 3% franchise fee on the electric customers in Norman. The suit pointed out the city’s franchise agreement not only expired in 2018 but also had been rejected by voters in January 2023.
“This franchise clearly expired, and for whatever reason, OG&E took steps not to renew it,” the Petrones’ attorney, Brad Barron, argued to Balkman on Thursday, reported Non Doc.
“We allege that the reason they did not take those steps is because they believed it would fail. And it turns out their intuition was right. It did go to a vote of the people in January 2023, and it failed.”
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