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OIEC Challenges OG&E's Requested Rate HikeBy
2011-11-11
“OG&E is seeking an approximate 7 percent increase in electric bills for its industrial customers which OG&E has not justified and which is not appropriate, especially in this current economic environment,” said Tom Schroedter, Executive Director of OIEC, an association of companies with facilities in Oklahoma that advocate for the lowest, reasonable energy costs. “OG&E’s rates should be reduced as recommended by OIEC’s experts, rather than increased.”
To protect Oklahoma’s industrial customers from OG&E’s proposed rate increase, OIEC has filed the expert testimony of three witnesses urging that the Commission adopt offsets and adjustments to OG&E’s requested rate increase that total $130,000,000. The offsets and adjustments recommended by OIEC are comprised of; (i) $52 million resulting from OIEC’s recommended and reasonable 9.5% return on equity for OG&E; (ii) $16 million of proposed changes to depreciation expenses (to extend the estimated lives of OG&E’s generating plants to more reasonable levels); and (iii) $62 million worth of accounting adjustments which update
OG&E’s requested investment and expense levels to actual experienced levels.
OIEC represents industrial companies with thousands of employees across the state. The organization works to ensure just and reasonable utility rates for OIEC members. OIEC has been active on behalf of industrial and other large consumers of energy for more than 15 years advocating for utility cost reductions or avoidance of utility cost increases for its member companies. For more information on OIEC, call Tom Schroedter at (918) 594-0400 or visit www.oiec.org
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