Rep. Trey Caldwell of Lawton doesn’t refer to the controversial issue of ROFR or Right of First Refusal in his HB2747, a bill dealing with competitive bidding by utilities. But former Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Jim Roth says it’s a ROFR bill and he’s against it.
“That’s not accelerating economic development. It’s not consistent with what President President has called for and Governor Stitt has called for,” said Roth. “Yet some of our representatives still think it’s the right thing for Oklahoma. I think it’s wrongheaded—just from a personal standpoint, I think we need the grid to be open and accessible for business and individuals.”
Interviewed by Scott Mitchell of Mitchell Talks Energy, Roth, also a dean emeritus of the School of Law at Oklahoma City University, believes the Caldwell bill would inhibit transmission and economic growth in the state.
“I also recognize that the more the grid is open for competition, the better you and I are on cheaper power sources.”
Roth is now an attorney who deals largely in energy issues. He professes the Caldwell bill, should it become law in whatever form might eventually be approved by legislators, would not attract out-of-state businesses as hoped by Gov. Stitt. It also would not accelerate energy development.
“–the idea that is now being pushed for a third year by Rep. Trey Caldwell is to favor the local utilities instead of a free market over what’s considered to be a competitive transmission market.”
He contends Caldwell wants to “trust the home team” and not trust those that might come into the state to invest in the build.
“–I am saying Rep. Caldwell’s bill parks the future of the grid in the hands of a few monopolistic utilities—I’m just not sure that pace is good for our energy, where I come from.”
Roth called it a personal issue, explaining his mother is on a fixed income and thinks that her monthly utility bill is not only too high but what she called hate mail.
“And she’s concerned that the legislative proposals, like Rep. Caldwell’s HB2747 is wrongheaded because it’s going to give the future to just afew participants within the market and she worries it will cost her more—and I don’t think she’s wrong–unfortunately.”
It’s why he thinks the legislature can do better than approve the Caldwell bill.
“But the reality is that we have been building competitive transmission for a number of years and it is really expanding our electric grid—it’s providing for opportunities for generation to happen in other parts of the state beyond where it is now.”
Roth served as dean of the Oklahoma City University School of Law from 2018 to 2023 and served as an Oklahoma Corporation Commissoiner from 2007 to 2009 after being appointed by Governor Brad Henry. He promotes the idea that the state should be building out and attracting investments for what it needs and what the economy needs.
“That’s why I’m a proponent for competitive transmission.”
Roth, a member of the Phillips Murrah law firm in Oklahoma City and its Energy & Natural Resources Practice Group, is considered a leader in clean energy issues. The firm’s website stated Roth often lectures on these related issues and currently serves as a Board Member to The American Clean Skies Foundation (a DC-based clean energy effort), a Board Member for TexCom, a Texas-based environmental services, publicly-traded company, and a Board Member for Global Innovation Platform, a Texas-based start-up and a comprehensive Internet of Things network orchestrator forging value from data produced within the built environment.
Rep. Caldwell’s response is included in a separate article in OK Energy Today.