Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Bob Anthony came out with a scathing response to a recent Attorney General’s opinion against his own investigation into allegations against Commissioner Todd Hiett. In an op-ed piece, Anthony was also highly critical of Commission Chair Kim David.
He vowed not to take part in closed-door meetings of the commission as now allowed by a new state law.
Below is his opinion piece.
Lights Out on Transparency at the OCC
by Corporation Commissioner Bob Anthony
A prominent national newspaper adopted the slogan “Democracy dies in darkness.” Today, with the help of the Attorney General and the Oklahoma Legislature, Commissioners Todd Hiett and Kim David have turned off the lights at the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. Anyone who wants to know the truth about what is going on had better bring their own floodlight.
On October 30, the Oklahoma Attorney General issued an Opinion (2024-16) at the request of Kim David that is clearly intended to shut down my August 7 Notice of Inquiry (NOI) into “past corruption and improper conduct involving the OCC, its staff and individual commissioners.” I opened my Inquiry after Hiett and David voted to close three other NOIs in the wake of news reports alleging multiple instances of sexual misconduct by Commissioner Hiett. Hiett immediately sued to stop my new Inquiry.
When the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled in my favor on September 30, it wrote, “Commissioner Anthony independently launched his own investigation into the performance or non-performance of the Corporation Commission, its staff, and commissioners by filing a Notice of Inquiry at the Commission. Commissioner Anthony has determined that the investigation will conclude when he personally files a written report.”
But the same arguments that the Supreme Court rejected when made by Hiett are now being used by the Attorney General to issue an Opinion that contradicts what the Court wrote (above) only a month ago. According to the A.G.’s new Opinion, if I do issue a report under my Notice of Inquiry, the A.G. might declare it a “unilateral expenditure of state funds … not allowed under Oklahoma law.” I believe his published opinion is fatally flawed, but it has the force and effect of law until challenged and overturned by a court, and I don’t have time for that.
Then on November 1, the A.G. issued yet another Opinion (2024-17) protecting Hiett from investigation. In this one, he told the Council on Judicial Complaints it could not investigate OCC commissioners for violations of the Code of Judicial Conduct, even though the A.G. admits commissioners are subject to the Code when acting in our quasi-judicial capacity. Who is able to enforce the Code against commissioners? Conveniently, the A.G. doesn’t say.
These two Opinions are more black marks on the Attorney General’s spotty record when it comes to openness and transparency at the Corporation Commission. A year ago, he threatened me with a “put up or shut up” letter in response to my public filings about potential wrongdoing surrounding the 2021 Winter Storm bond deals and their billion-dollar cost overrun. When I published 18-pages of emails and other evidence in response, he said nothing.
The A.G. has also said nothing about the criminal allegations against Commissioner Hiett that taint dozens of OCC cases worth billions of dollars to more than a million Oklahoma utility customers – customers whose interests the A.G. is supposed to represent and whose due process rights he is supposed to protect. Three state representatives have picked up the mantle instead.
Interestingly, the A.G.’s Office responded to Commissioner David’s opinion request in two months, whereas I have been waiting more than six months for an Opinion about the legal ruse my agency has been using for two years to withhold agency records about the 2021 Winter Storm from me and the public. Yet another lost opportunity to stand up for transparency.
For her part, Commissioner David told the TV cameras on July 31 that she wanted “to ensure that we show the public that we’re committed to being open and transparent” regarding the sexual assault allegations against Hiett. However, her August 27 letter requesting the Attorney General Opinion that attempts to shut down my Inquiry would seem to belie that public statement. Just as her August 20 support for the OCC’s “strictly voluntary,” “confidential fact-finding” into commissioner misconduct that explicitly excluded “behavior of a criminal nature” completely contradicted the “open and transparent,” “independent investigation” she had publicly said she supported on July 31. Actions speak louder than words.
This past spring, I forcefully opposed HB 2367 which granted Corporation Commissioners unbelievably broad exceptions to the Open Meeting Act. I called it a “full-frontal assault on public protections, open meetings, open records, transparency and ratepayers’ right to know the truth.” It passed anyway and went into effect November 1, 2024.
For the record, I will continue to abide by the unadulterated terms of the Open Meeting Act the same way I have for the last 35 years. I will not be a party to behind-closed-doors meetings, calls or correspondence between commissioners, the contents of which will only be disclosed to the public through a generic checklist.
The activities, meetings and records of the OCC and its individual commissioners deserve more, not less, transparency and scrutiny. My grandfather used to say it this way: “You don’t see the cockroaches until you turn on the lights.” Sadly, it appears the infestation at the Oklahoma Corporation Commission is destined to get worse.
