Oklahoma Corporation Commissioners now have a judge’s recommendation regarding the 2023 fuel costs of Public Service Company of Oklahoma.
Following a Thursday morning “prudence” hearing on PSO’s Fuel Adjustment Clause (FAC) Judge Ken Behrens announced he had “carefully considered” the testimony offered in the matter and said he adopted the recommendation from the commission’s Public Utilities Division.
PUD reviewed the $554,009,051 in 2023 fuel costs by the utility in the production of electrical power for its 578,000 customers and found them to be accurate.
One of those who testified in open court before Judge Behrens was Programs Manager Cody Alsup who previously had declared in filings that “after conducting a thorough review, PUD believes that the practices, policies, and decisions of the Company were prudent, and the costs passed through the FAC to ratepayers were arithmetically accurate and applied correctly.”
He recommended approval of the fuel costs for 2023. PSO requested approval in a June 2024 filing with the Corporation Commission.
Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s office also supported the findings of the PUD.
All three commissioners, Kim David, Todd Hiett and Brian Bingman, were present for the Hearing on the Merits but took no vote.