From an energy standpoint, Oklahoma Energy Secretary Jeff Starling thinks the just-concluded legislative session “went really well.”
It’s what he said in an interview for Scott Mitchell Talks Energy with Jerry Bohnen, adding, “There’s always some shenanigans here and there, but I’d grade it as a pretty good session.”
The Energy Secretary believes Oklahoma is “very, very well positioned” from a regulatory standpoint, something Gov. Kevin Stitt defined very early on in his goal of making Oklahoma the most business-friendly state in the country.
“We have a friendly regulatory environment. We have a friendly tax environment. We saw tax cuts again this year with a path to zero.”
But it appears one of the major goals accomplished by the Stitt administration was the passing of “behind the meter” legislation. The governor signed Senate Bill 480 into law, a measure authored by Sen. Grant Green, R-Wellston who claimed it could generate billions in new private-sector investment, empower businesses to develop and manage their own power and electric facilities.
“This legislation puts Oklahoma on the forefront of energy innovation and economic competitiveness while ensuring we continue to support and respect the role of our longtime electric utilities,” Green said.
Secretary Starling couldn’t agree more, saying it will boost recruiting business to the state, “specifically in the energy field,” which shows how important it was to get behind the meter.
“Sure, and just to set the context first, you have new electricity which is needed in our area of the country, in Oklahoma specifically. That’s not unique to Oklahoma, but we need new electricity as well.”
Starling is aware it takes time to get a new electric production or electric generation connected to the grid.
“So if we need companies now, how do they get electricity now? And what Behind the Meter does is allows new industries coming into the state to set up their own generation facilities that just serve that business. And then, so the theory, the way this will work over time is new businesses will come in, they will set up their generation, they typically need to establish and build more generation than they actually need.”
As a result, he explained that most large industries locating in the state and taking advantage of “Behind the Meter” will likely produce an excess capacity of electricity. But he also said the new projects need to get on an approval queue with regulators to ensure the safety of the grid.
“If people were able to just connect to the grid, you could really cause a lot of damage. When you talk about just the high voltage of some of these, both the supplies being put on and also the loads being taken off the grid. So those need to be approved and that takes time. The SPP, the Southwest Power Pool, was our regional provider that approves new electricity generation coming onto the grid.”
For a while, it put pressure on the grid and in some cases, applications to the SPP took five years before approval was given.
“The SPP has worked really diligently to bring that down and they’re telling me it’s down to two years for the goal of getting down to one year by the end of the year. We’re very hopeful on that and the governor’s been pretty adamant on pushing them on that. But again, it’s not unique to Oklahoma. So you have this question of, okay, we need new electricity.”
One of those major projects that will have a large capacity for electricity is the $4 billion ERmirate Aluminum smelter announced to be located at the Port of Inola in northeastern Oklahoma.
“Yeah, the good part is the thousand new jobs here in Oklahoma, and these are good manufacturing jobs that President Trump has really prioritized for the country. He wants to bring manufacturing back to the United States. And this is one of those projects. And in fact, it was so important that President Trump himself announced it. That’s the big deal that it is.”