The results of a study showing Oklahoma ranks in the top three states in the U.S. in its power shut-offs prompted Tulsa Rep. Amanda Clinton to call the trend “just plain unacceptable.”
In a social media posting, the Democrat lawmaker was not happy with what OK Energy Today reported from the Energy Policy Institute.
“I don’t want to hear another politician or business/economic development leader brag about Oklahoma’s “low” energy prices after this staggering report from the U.S. Department of Energy,” wrote Rep. Clinton.
The Energy Policy Institute pointed out how utility executives across the U.S., including those in Oklahoma, had record high compensation packages and it angered the state representative.
“Oklahomans are not stupid, and we will not be gaslighted (no pun intended).”
What angered Rep. Clinton was the government data showing around 30 percent of Oklahoma households had their power shut off in 2024, the highest in the nation. And in the first six months of 2025, the price per kilowatt hour in Oklahoma rose by 30 percent, compared to 11 percent nationally.
She pointed out how she worked with Republican Rep. Brad Boles in HB2992, a bill to protect consumers from high electricity costs driven by data centers and said, “we are close to putting guardrails in place.”
“As we near the end of this session and begin planning for next year, one of my top priorities will remain finding ways to keep electricity prices affordable for regular folks, because the current trend is just plain unacceptable,” said Clinton in the Facebook posting.
The Energy Policy Institute explained that Oklahoma ranked first in the nation for utility shutoffs relative to its customer base or one electric or gas shutoff for every three households.
According to the U.S. Energy and Information Administration, there were 572,480 cutoffs in Oklahoma in 2024.
Although Oklahoma bans disconnections during extreme weather events, utilities still shut off electricity over 570,000 times to homes with past-due bills — placing Oklahoma third in disconnections, behind only Texas (3M+) and Florida (2.1M+), despite being a fraction of their size.
Utilities typically execute shutoffs when households are more than about $100 and thirty days past due, although there are reports of shutoffs for households owing as little as eight cents, according to the Energy Equity Project, a non-profit that advocates for energy affordability and ending shutoffs.