When Oklahoma Gas and Electric filed a request for Corporation Commissioner Todd Hiett to recuse himself from an ongoing rate case, it did so claiming ethics were at the heart of its claims.
The utility accused him in its November 26 filing in case 2025-000038 of a “clear bias against OG&E.” The filing was made after the commission voted to approve OG&E’s request for new generation with Commissioner Hiett dissenting.”
OG&E had asked and on a 2-1 vote, with Hiett voting no, for preapproval of additional capacity resources consisting of three major energy expansion projects, the Black Kettle battery storage project at Enid, the Kiamichi power plant at Kiowa and OG&E’s Horseshoe Lake, its operation in eastern Oklahoma County. The expansion included CPAs or Capacity Purchase Agreements in which a utility acquires the right to use the capacity of the generation facility to meet resource adequacy obligations. OGE’s also sought Construction Work in Progress approval for the Black Kettle battery project but it was not included in the final order from the commission.
It is not the first such time that Hiett was asked to either resign from the Corporation Commission or recuse himself from rate matters involving OG&E, ONG and Public Service Company of Oklahoma. Readers might recall that in 2024, then Corporation Commissioner Bob Anthony did the same over the allegations of public drunkenness and sexual abuse raised against Commissioner Hiett.
He too raised the issue of ethics violations and did so in a December 5, 2024 meeting of the Corporation Commission but then-Deputy Attorney General Chase Snodgrass, who represented the state and consumers during corporation commission issues, didn’t agree at the time.
“So, A, to address whether or not the ethics rules apply or whether or not the Code of Judicial Conduct applies, I—I don’t–it’s not clear to me that either would apply in this situation, let alone that there would be facts or evidence to support such an accusation,” replied Snodgrass to Anthony’s questions.
Anthony stated he disagreed and felt the ethical conduct of the Commission and the Code of Judicial Conduct and the Constitutional State ethics rules were applicable. He referenced Ethics Rule 4.7 and said the standard is not that there’s evidence required for criminal prosecution.
“It’s the impropriety or the appearance of impropriety. Do you think there’s an appearance of impropriety that we should pay attention to under the ethics rules of the Code of Judicial Conduct in this case,” asked Anthony.
Snodgrass replied that the Attorney General had not asked any member of the Commission to recuse themself from the case.
“And to ask for a recusal which, A, there’s—it’s not even clear that that could be requested under the law, but, B, to ask for such a recusal, I have an ethical obligation to ensure that when I ask for such things that I have actual facts and evidence to such a claim,” said Snodgrass. “Reading a newspaper or reading something on Twitter is not the same thing as having a sworn affidavit, having a police report, none of those things. I certainly don’t have any direct knowledge, and I don’t have any of that—that fact or evidence.”
Anthony responded by pointing out that two officials from the Kansas Corporation Commission had affidavits filed at the Oklahoma Supreme Court giving information and that “is a little bit more than somebody’s Twitter feed. Thank you.”
Since then, Snodgrass left the Attorney General’s office to become a Senior Regulatory attorney for OG&E and filed the recusal request with the Corporation Commission. He might have had a change of opinion about ethics violations and whether it could be “requested under the law.”
The utility’s filing referred to Oklahoma Ethics Commission Rule 4.7, the same one Anthony raised in the December 2024 meeting. OGE stated in the filing that the rule “dictates that an officer shall disqualify himself or herself from any matter where impartiality might reasonably be questioned, including stances where the officer has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party.”
OG&E further contended in the Snodgrass filing, “The remedy of appeal cannot cure the harm caused by a biased decision-maker influencing the record, nor can it restore public confidence in the integrity of these proceedings. Accordingly, recusal is necessary under Rule 4.7.”
On Thursday, Commissioner Hiett defiantly responded to the utility’s request, stating he would not recuse himself for doing the job he was elected to do. He also denied he was biased against OG&E and said he considered it to be a fine company. But he also said, “the law is clear…bias does not require recusal,” and referred to previous state Supreme Court rulings on the subject.
“I’ve done my job and I won’t apologize,” declared Commissioner Hiett who warned other commissioners and commissioners-to-be to be wary of the utility. “If they can do it to me, they can do it to you.”
He further charged that what the powerful utility did was “send a chilling message—do what we want or else.”