Five years after Winter Storm Uri pounded Oklahoma and froze the ability of some utilities to transport natural gas for their power generators, the state attorney general’s efforts to recover billions of dollars in what he alleged to be “price manipulation” is dragging on in a court in Pawhuska.
It is there that Gentner Drummond chose to file suit against the firms that he alleged were responsible for the historic natural gas prices that eventually led to bond securitization legislation and the creation of billions of dollars added to consumers for up to 25 years. He filed the suit because of the damage he contends was inflicted on the Grand River Dam Authority.
If and when there is ever a trial before Osage County District Court Judge Stuart Tate, it will involve a long list of attorneys representing 17 defendants named in the suit filed by the attorney general one year ago. The defendants named in the suit were: Symmetry Energy Solutions, LLC; Constellation NewEnergy-Gas Division LLC; BP Energy Company; Chevron Natural Gas Services, Inc.; Chevron U.S.A. Inc.; ETC Marketing Ltd.; ETC Marketing Inc.; Macquarie Energy L.L.C.; NextEra Energy Marketing LLC; Sequent Energy Management; Spire Marketing, Inc.; Southwest Energy, L.P.; SWE Management LLC; Southwest Energy Corporation; Tenaska Marketing Ventures; Tenaska Gas Storage, LLC; and Tenaska Inc.
The list of attorneys is just as long.
Attorneys
| Attorney | |
|---|---|
| O’HARA, PATRICK JR | |
| YAFFE, S. ALEX | |
| SILL, MATTHEW J. 1101 N. BROADWAY AVE STE 102 OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73103 |
|
| TISDALE, MART 814 FRISCO AVE CLINTON, OK 73601 |
|
| GRAFTON, ALEXANDRA FOULKES | |
| DAVIDOFF, AMANDA FLUG | |
| KANE, JESS ROBINETT KING ELIAS BUHLINGER BROWN KANE P O BOX 1066 BARTLESVILLE, OK 74005 |
|
| SMITH, MORGAN T | |
| MANSINGHANI, MITHUN 629 W MAIN ST OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73102 |
|
| MERRILL, WILLIAM R.H. | |
| FITZGERALD, CRAIG A. | |
| STEIN, PATRICK L | |
| BENOIT, BRADLEY J. | |
| ANDERSON, K. MCKENZIE | |
| PEPPERMAN, RICHARD C. II II OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73134 |
|
| GRAFTON, ALEXANDRA FOULKES | |
| RAY, RYAN A. 3200 MID-CONTINENT TOWER 401 S. BOSTON TULSA, OK 74103 |
|
| STEINER, GEREN | |
| MCMILLIAN, ASHLEY L. | |
| BOGAN, TADD J P JONES GOTCHER & BOGAN 15 EAST FIFTH ST SUITE 3800 TULSA, OK 74103 |
|
| FRANKLIN, BEATRICE | |
| YOUNG, TYLER P | |
| OLDFIELD, WILLIAM L | |
| CALLAHAN, BRYCE LEE | |
| CRAIN, STEPHEN B. | |
| WEGER, JAMES E JONES GIVENS GOTCHER & BOGAN 15 E FIFTH ST SUITE 3800 TULSA, OK 74103 |
|
| DEVLIN, MICHAEL P. OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73134 |
|
| MERRILL, WILLIAM R.H. | |
| SULLIVAN, TIMOTHY J. | |
| FRANKLIN, BEATRICE | |
| JENKS, MADELINE B. OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73134 |
About the same time Drummond filed the lawsuit in 2025, Judge Tate also applied for the vacancy created on the Oklahoma Supreme Court by the departure of Justice Yvonne Kauger. He was one of 14 to do so and in April, the governor chose Travis Jett as the replacement.
Since then, Judge Tate denied a request by some of the defendants was denied last August. The judge also set dates for the next round of action. Otherwise, many of the filings in the case involved the request of attorneys to be recognized in the lawsuit.
“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that:
The Joint Motion to Dismiss and Symmetry Energy Solutions, LLC’s Motion to Dismiss are DENIED in their entirety; Plaintiff’s claims under the Oklahoma Antitrust Reform Act, the Oklahoma Consumer Protection Act, and for unjust enrichment may proceed against all named Defendants. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that all parties shall attempt to reach an agreed Scheduling Order within thirty days of
the date of this order,” wrote the Judge on August 19.
Other firms named in Drummond’s lawsuit have denied the claims. Another round of legal filings is anticipated in June because Judge Tate ordered, “parties shall exchange Preliminary lists of witnesses and exhibits by June 15, 2026.”
He also scheduled another deadline for August, ordering “Initial expert designations and report to be served on all counsel of record by August 3, 2026.
The Attorney General’s lawsuit pointed out that in 2023, two years after the storm left Oklahoma in its icy and cold grip, that the state was the sixth-largest producer of marketed natural gas and accounted for seven percent of the U.S. total. In 2022, he noted, about three times as much natural gas flowed out of Oklahoma as entered the state. The electric power sector accounted for 52% of the natural gas delivered to end-use consumers in the state and the industrial sector consumed 33%.
Drummond’s lawsuit claimed that “as a result of market manipulation by Defendants, during Winter Storm Uri Oklahoma’s natural gas prices ballooned exponentially compared to states similarly impacted by the weather,” adding that Oklahomans suffered the “most significant natural gas price increases during the storm.”
He contended in the suit that the defendants “used a variety of tactics for manipulating the natural gas market in Oklahoma” during the storm including the use of force majeure declarations to reduce pipeline deliveries to customers “which allowed Defendants to sell natural gas on the spot market at higher prices.”
That’s when the prices hit historic levels of $1230.65 MMBtu on February 18 following a price of $2.695 MMBtu on February 2.
After Gov. Kevin Stitt issued an emergency declaration on February 12, he also activated the Emergency Price Stabilization Act under the Oklahoma Consumer Protection Act. It was followed, according to the lawsuit, by the defendants sending force majeure declaration letters. The Attorney General alleges the firms used the letters as a “pretext for reducing deliveries to customers at contracted rates and selling such natural gas for higher spot market prices instead.”
Over the weekend, Drummond’s office answered a series of questions by OK Energy Today about his efforts to monitor the current natural gas prices that rose quickly because of the ongoing Winter Storm Fern.