1 STATE OF OKLAHOMA
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2 2nd Session of the 59th Legislature (2024)
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3 SENATE BILL 1332 By: Prieto
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6 AS INTRODUCED
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7 An Act relating to Corporation Commission; creating
7 the Oklahoma Electric Choice and Competition Act;
8 providing short title; stating legislative intent;
8 defining terms; providing for certain customers to
9 make certain electric supplier determination;
9 providing for competitive market for the generation
10 or electricity; directing rule promulgation;
10 requiring access to certain transmission and
11 distribution systems subject to certain regulation;
11 prohibiting modifications to services or obligations
12 of certain utilities; requiring access to certain
12 utility systems and information for certain retail
13 electric suppliers; directing Commission to establish
13 process for certain data processes; providing for
14 customer selection of billing method; directing
14 creation of customer education program; providing for
15 continuance of service by utility for certain
15 customers; directing issuance of certain license by
16 Commission; directing establishment of certain
16 processes within Commission; providing for recovery
17 of certain costs by utility; providing for divestment
17 of generation assets by utility; requiring certain
18 plan submission; establishing plan content; providing
18 for codification; and providing an effective date.
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21 BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
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22 SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
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23 in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 803.1 of Title 17, unless there
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24 is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
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 1 This act shall be known and may be cited as the “Oklahoma
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2 Electric Choice and Competition Act”.
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3 SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
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4 in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 803.2 of Title 17, unless there
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5 is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
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6 The Legislature of the State of Oklahoma finds and declares as
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7 follows:
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8 1. Electricity is essential to public safety and economic
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9 development, and electricity should be available to all customers on
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10 reasonable terms and conditions;
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11 2. It is in the public interest to permit industrial and
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12 commercial customers of investor-owned electric utilities that serve
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13 more than one hundred thousand (100,000) customers to obtain direct
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14 access to a competitive retail electric market for the purchase of
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15 electric generation service;
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16 3. Electric utilities will remain responsible for owning and
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17 maintaining the transmission and distribution systems and providing
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18 transmission and distribution services as monopoly functions;
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19 4. A competitive retail electric market shall be implemented
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20 through a fair and orderly transition for the generation and sale or
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21 purchase of electricity;
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22 5. The transition to a competitive retail electric market
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23 should not adversely affect industrial and commercial customers or
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 1 result in a decline in the protections, policies, and services that
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2 are currently in place for customers;
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3 6. Electric utilities have generally had an obligation to serve
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4 customers within their defined service territories and, consistent
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5 with that obligation, have undertaken long-term investments in
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6 generation, transmission, and distribution facilities and entered
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7 into long-term power supply agreements. Some of these investments
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8 and agreements have created costs that may not be recoverable in a
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9 competitive market. Electric utilities should be permitted to
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10 recover these stranded costs, as well as transition costs incurred
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11 to implement electric competition; and
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12 7. Under current law, the generation, transmission, and
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13 distribution of electricity is provided by electric utilities under
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14 bundled rates. In order to permit industrial and commercial
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15 customers to have direct access to a competitive market for the
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16 purchase of electricity, electric utilities shall unbundle these
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17 rates into rates for generation, transmission, and distribution.
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18 This unbundling process should be performed in a manner that does
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19 not cause any cross-subsidization among customer classes.
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20 SECTION 3. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
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21 in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 803.3 of Title 17, unless there
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22 is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
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23 As used in the Oklahoma Electric Choice and Competition Act:
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 1 1. “Anticompetitive or discriminatory conduct” means conduct by
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2 an electric utility which inhibits the ability of retail electric
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3 suppliers to provide electric generation service to customers or
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4 which creates an impression that the basic generation service by the
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5 electric utility is superior to offerings in the competitive market
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6 or provides an advantage to any related retail electric supplier
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7 over nonaffiliated retail electric suppliers;
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8 2. “Basic generation service” means the electricity that
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9 electric utilities continue to supply to customers who do not select
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10 a retail electric supplier when given direct access to retail
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11 electric suppliers;
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12 3. “Commercial and industrial customer” means a customer
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13 receiving distribution service from the electric utility under a
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14 nonresidential tariff;
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15 4. “Commission” means the Corporation Commission;
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16 5. “Competitive procurement process” means an auction in which
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17 wholesale electric suppliers submit bids to supply electric
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18 generation service to the electric utility for basic generation
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19 service supplied to customers;
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20 6. “Competitive transition charge” means a non-bypassable
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21 mechanism for the recovery of transition or stranded costs by the
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22 electric utility;
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 1 7. “Compliance plan” means a plan filed by an electric utility
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2 to implement the provisions of this act relating to restructuring,
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3 transition or stranded costs, unbundling, and direct access;
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4 8. “Cooperative” means a corporation organized under or that is
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5 subject to the Rural Electric Cooperative Act established in Section
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6 437 et seq. of Title 18 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
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7 9. “Customer” means a retail industrial or commercial customer
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8 receiving service from an electric utility or a retail electric
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9 supplier;
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10 10. “Direct access” means the ability of a customer to purchase
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11 electricity directly from a retail electric supplier;
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12 11. “Dual bill” means a separate bill sent by a retail electric
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13 supplier to a customer containing only the charges for electric
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14 generation service;
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15 12. “Electric generation service” means the generation or sale
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16 of electricity to customers by retail electric suppliers;
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17 13. “Electric utility” means any investor-owned public utility
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18 engaged in the furnishing of electric service to one hundred
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19 thousand (100,000) or more customers;
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20 14. “Hourly prices” means charges for basic generation service
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21 that vary hour-to-hour and are determined from wholesale market
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22 prices using a methodology approved by the Commission;
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23 15. “Indirect costs” means those overhead or shared costs that
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24 are incurred by an electric utility on a total company basis to
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 1 provide distribution service and basic generation service to
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2 customers on its distribution system;
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3 16. “Non-bypassable charge” means a charge that is assessed on
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4 all customers of an electric utility’s distribution system, which
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5 cannot be bypassed by opting to receive electric generation service
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6 from a retail electric supplier in the market;
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7 17. “Restructuring” means the process of restructuring the
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8 monopoly electric utility to allow customers to choose a retail
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9 electric supplier for electric generation service but still receive
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10 transmission and distribution service from the electric utility;
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11 18. “Retail electric supplier” means an entity licensed by the
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12 Commission to supply electric generation service to customers;
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13 19. “Supplier consolidated billing” means a billing procedure
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14 under which a retail electric supplier sends a consolidated bill to
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15 a customer, containing its electric generation service charges and
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16 the electric utility’s distribution charges;
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17 20. “Transition or stranded costs” means costs which would have
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18 been recoverable by electric utilities in a monopoly environment but
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19 may not be recovered in a competitive generation market, including
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20 regulatory assets and other deferred charges, environmental
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21 expenses, cost obligations under long-term contracts, customer
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22 education, and other costs associated with implementing electric
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23 choice, in addition to any costs identified by the Commission;
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 1 21. “Transmission and distribution service” means delivery of
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2 electricity provided by the electric utility over its transmission
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3 and distribution systems;
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4 22. “Unbundle” or “unbundling” means separating the process of
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5 electric service into its three basic components of transmission,
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6 distribution, and generation services, and identifying the costs
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7 incurred by the electric utility to provide each component of the
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8 electric service; and
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9 23. “Utility consolidated billing” means a billing procedure
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10 under which an electric utility sends a consolidated bill to a
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11 customer, containing its distribution charges and the retail
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12 electric supplier’s electric generation service charges.
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13 SECTION 4. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
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14 in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 803.4 of Title 17, unless there
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15 is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
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16 A. Beginning January 1, 2025, the Corporation Commission shall
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17 permit commercial and industrial customers of electric utilities to
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18 choose a retail electric supplier.
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19 B. All customers of electric utilities shall have direct access
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20 to a competitive market for the generation of electricity for the
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21 purpose of selecting the entity that supplies electric generation
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22 service consistent with the timeframe established in subsection A of
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23 this section.
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 1 C. The Corporation Commission shall promulgate rules for a fair
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2 and orderly restructuring process for the sale and purchase of
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3 electric generation service.
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4 D. Electric utilities shall provide open access over their
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5 transmission and distribution systems to allow retail electric
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6 suppliers to sell electric generation service directly to customers
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7 in this state.
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8 E. Electric utilities shall unbundle the rates charged for
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9 generation, transmission, and distribution services for all classes
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10 of industrial and commercial customers.
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11 F. The Commission shall continue to regulate the transmission
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12 and distribution of electricity by electric utilities as monopoly
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13 functions and shall enforce the rules relating to direct access and
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14 basic generation service procurement.
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15 SECTION 5. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
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16 in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 803.5 of Title 17, unless there
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17 is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
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18 A. Nothing in this act shall be viewed as affecting the
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19 obligations of electric utilities to provide safe, reliable, and
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20 affordable service.
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21 B. The transition to a competitive retail electric market shall
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22 not adversely affect customers or result in a decline in the
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23 protections, policies, and services that are currently in place for
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24 customers.
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 1 C. The unbundling process required by this act shall preserve a
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2 fair allocation of costs among customers, as per rules promulgated
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3 by the Corporation Commission.
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4 SECTION 6. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
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5 in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 803.6 of Title 17, unless there
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6 is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
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7 A. All electric utilities have an obligation to provide open
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8 and nondiscriminatory access to their systems as needed for retail
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9 electric suppliers to provide service. Such access includes
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10 customer metering and other customer information so long as the
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11 retail electric supplier receives customer consent for the release
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12 of the data.
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13 B. The Corporation Commission shall develop processes for
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14 retail electric suppliers to confirm and document the customer’s
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15 consent to release data; however, such processes may not require
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16 onerous signature or other requirements to be received from the
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17 customer.
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18 C. All electric utilities shall continue to provide metering
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19 services, but customer-specific data shall be released to retail
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20 electric suppliers upon customer consent.
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21 D. Customers shall have the ability to select their preferred
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22 billing method including, but not limited to, utility consolidated
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23 billing, supplier consolidated billing, and separate bills. The
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24 Commission shall institute an on-the-record proceeding to develop
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 1 the necessary procedures and requirements to implement alternate
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2 billing methods.
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3 SECTION 7. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
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4 in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 803.7 of Title 17, unless there
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5 is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
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6 A. Upon the effective date of this act, the Corporation
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7 Commission shall commence a proceeding to develop a comprehensive
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8 customer education program to ensure that customers have access to
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9 accurate information about their ability to directly access the
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10 competitive market. The proceeding shall explore ways for the
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11 Commission to partner with electric utilities to disseminate
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12 Commission-endorsed educational pieces or engage in a statewide
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13 campaign, as well as appropriate cost recovery from all customers to
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14 support the customer education program.
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15 B. The Commission shall explore the use of a publicly available
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16 website option which enables customers to compare products and
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17 services being offered by retail electric suppliers.
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18 SECTION 8. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
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19 in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 803.8 of Title 17, unless there
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20 is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
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21 A. Electric utilities shall continue to provide basic
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22 generation service to industrial and commercial customers that do
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23 not choose a retail electric supplier pursuant to the provisions of
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24 this section.
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 1 B. Industrial and commercial customers that do not choose a
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2 retail electric supplier shall pay hourly prices for electricity,
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