Gann, Kevin West ask Oklahoma Supreme Court to end ‘muzzling’ of utility customers

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A day after winning reelection to his House seat, Rep. Tom Gann, R-Inola, filed an appeal of another Oklahoma Corporation Commission ruling to the Oklahoma Supreme Court. He was joined by Rep. Kevin West, R-Moore.

A June 11 Corporation Commission ruling denied the intervention of customers trying to participate in the latest rate case for Oklahoma Natural Gas Company. The utility is seeking a $29 million rate increase. If approved, it would mark the fourth rate hike the commission has approved for the company in the last four years, increasing customer bills by more than $128 million.

Often joined by Rep. Rick West, R-Heavener, Gann and Kevin West now have 11 utility appeals pending before the state’s highest court. This latest appeal, filed June 17, brings the total amount of Oklahoma Natural Gas, OG&E and Public Service Company of Oklahoma customer payments the lawmakers have challenged to $500 million in rate increases, $3.2 billion in 2021 Winter Storm bonds, $11 billion in fuel charges and $1.3 billion in new capacity preapprovals. Six of those appeals are fully briefed and under consideration by the Supreme Court.

“The feedback we’ve received from constituents has been great,” Kevin West said. “Oklahomans appreciate that we aren’t just talking about standing up for them and fighting against inflated utility bills, we’re actually doing it.”

“The OCC has gone completely off the beam,” the lawmakers told the Supreme Court in their June 17 petition, describing how the commission set a March 27 deadline to intervene in the rate case — after that deadline had already passed. Oklahoma Natural Gas customers were not notified about the case until late April.

“This case was rigged from the start to keep ONG ratepayers out,” Gann said. “The federal courts have said utility customers have constitutional due process rights — including a right to timely and adequate notice about these cases. We are asking the Supreme Court to uphold customers’ rights and require the OCC to change its rules to respect them. ONG ratepayers should be allowed to exercise their right to participate without being muzzled.”

At a June 11 Corporation Commission hearing, an attorney for Oklahoma Natural Gas challenged Gann’s entry of appearance in the case, arguing he had missed the March 27 deadline to intervene. Gann argued that as a customer entitled to personal notice in the case, his was an “intervention of right” under the law and not subject to that deadline.

“Oklahoma Administrative Code 165:5-9-4(d)(2) expressly permits ‘a person entitled to personal notice in a case’ to ‘become a party of record by filing an entry of appearance or orally stating an entry of appearance at any proceeding regarding the case without needing to file a motion for intervention,'” Gann later wrote in exceptions he filed objecting to the ruling. The administrative law judge who ruled against him made no mention of that law and did not address the fact that the commission had set an intervention deadline that had already passed. She went on to dismiss Gann’s filed motions and objections.

Immediately after formally barring Gann from participating, the commission conducted an eight-minute hearing on the merits with no witness testimony or cross-examination, at which the utility, the commission’s Public Utility Division and the attorney general’s office all agreed the $29 million rate increase should be approved exactly as requested. Commissioners are expected to make a final decision later this year.

Gann and more than 300 Public Service Company of Oklahoma customers have filed similar entries in that utility’s latest rate case, in which it is seeking an additional $600 million increase. With the commission’s approval, Public Service Company also did not notify customers about its rate case until after the deadline to intervene had passed. Many of those entries came from residential customers opposed to subsidizing electricity for a proposed Emirates Global Aluminum smelter; a hearing in that case is set for 1:30 p.m. June 25.

Oklahoma Natural Gas, the Corporation Commission and the attorney general’s office have 30 days to respond to the latest appeal.

Pending utility appeals before the Oklahoma Supreme Court:

• Public Service Company rate case ($250 million rate increase; $700 million bonds; initial decision April 21, 2026; reconsideration pending) — oscn.net case 122861
• Oklahoma Natural Gas, Public Service Company and OG&E 2023 fuel cases ($1.5 billion; all briefs filed) — oscn.net case 122991
• OG&E rate case ($127 million rate increase; $760 million bonds; all briefs filed) — oscn.net case 123021
• Oklahoma Natural Gas rate case ($98 million rate increase; $1.3 billion bonds; all briefs filed) — oscn.net case 123348
• Oklahoma Natural Gas 2024 fuel case ($390 million plus $888 million for 2021-2022; first brief filed) — oscn.net case 123588
• OG&E 2024 fuel case ($925 million plus $1.9 billion for 2021-2022; first brief filed) — oscn.net case 123608
• Public Service Company 2024 fuel case ($600 million plus $2.8 billion for 2021-2022; briefs this fall) — oscn.net case 123905
• Public Service Company preapproval case ($1.255 billion; briefs this winter) — oscn.net case 124090
• Oklahoma Natural Gas intervention denial case ($29 million rate increase) — oscn.net case 124164

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