Oklahomans were fleeced during the 2021 winter storm. Lawmakers should make sure it never happens again
At long last, there may be some justice for Oklahoma consumers who have had to foot the exorbitant tab of the 2021 winter weather event.
Attorney General Gentner Drummond has finally filed the first of what’s expected to be many lawsuits aimed at helping Oklahoma consumers recover from the two-week winter storm, which saw our natural gas prices soar nearly 40,000%.
When the earth finally began to thaw from Winter Storm Uri, officials said Oklahoma consumers were left facing over $4.5 billion in additional energy costs — in just 14 days.
It was a mind-boggling amount of debt — amounting to over one-third of our annual state budget.
And as our power providers began seeking repayment, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission agreed to securitize much of it into monthly payments that will take the majority of Oklahoma consumers nearly three decades to pay off.
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Oklahomans were rightfully furious and began demanding answers for how this debacle could happen.
Some blamed our state’s former attorney general for failing to advocate for consumers. He coincidentally lost his reelection bid not long after. Others pointed the finger at the state agency that regulates power providers and decided to securitize the debt.
State regulators, meanwhile, have refused to say who exactly profited at our expense.
Most Oklahomans just want justice, financial relief and a better understanding of how this fiasco could have happened.
Drummond this week finally gave Oklahomans their first peek under the hood, putting the initial blame on a quintet of companies.
But the lawsuit also seems to partly blame our state lawmakers for implementing terrible and lax energy regulatory policies.
Drummond’s first two lawsuits were filed on behalf of Oklahoma’s Grand River Dam Authority, the state’s largest public power utility. But he promised more were likely to come.
Drummond said “some bad actors reaped billions of dollars in ill-gotten gains,” and it’s important to do everything in our power to hold them accountable for their actions.
In his lawsuit, Drummond alleged the defendants — Enable Midstream Partners, Enable Oklahoma Intrastate Transmission, Enable Gas Transmission, Enable Energy Resources and Symmetry Energy Solutions — spent weeks before the storm deliberately reducing the availability of natural gas and scheming to drive prices higher, Oklahoma Voice reporter Barbara Hoberock wrote.
Drummond alleged the end goal was to push natural gas prices exponentially higher to the Grand River Dam Authority’s detriment.
But Drummond also pointed out that the state’s natural gas pipelines are susceptible to manipulation, Oklahoma Watch reported. State-to-state pipelines are regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Many states have laws in place that mirror FERC’s to prevent such system “market manipulation and anti-competitive behavior,” Drummond wrote.
Oklahoma does not.
And without it, it turns out we’re “especially vulnerable to manipulation.”
It will probably take years for the litigation to play out.
In the meantime, Oklahomans deserve assurances from our elected officials that this isn’t going to happen again.
Perhaps lawmakers should spend their final six weeks of session focused on crafting adequate energy policies that will prevent this kind of market manipulation.
Other than crafting a budget, fixing this — and doing it correctly — seems like it should be the top priority.
For businesses of all sizes, schools, and residential consumers alike, there’s probably little more critical than ensuring we have legislation in place that guarantees stability in our natural gas market.
Because our weather events are becoming more extreme.
It’s not a matter of if we get another “once in a generation storm,” but when.
We need our lawmakers to do everything they can to ensure we’re as ready as we can be.
Janelle Stecklein is editor of Oklahoma Voice. An award-winning journalist, Stecklein has been covering Oklahoma government and politics since moving to the state in 2014.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma must make sure 2021 winter storm costs never happen again
