1 STATE OF OKLAHOMA
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2 2nd Session of the 59th Legislature (2024)
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3 HOUSE BILL 4065 By: Wallace
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6 AS INTRODUCED
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7 An Act relating to utilities; amending 17 O.S. 2021,
7 Sections 151, 158.50, 181, and 250, which relate to
8 definitions of terms; modifying definitions of public
8 and electric utilities; excluding certain entities
9 from certain definitions; declaring an emergency.
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11 BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
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12 SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 17 O.S. 2021, Section 151, is
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13 amended to read as follows:
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14 Section 151. A. 1. The term "public utility" as used in
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15 Sections 151 through 155 of this title, shall be taken to mean and
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16 include every corporation, association, company, individuals, their
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17 trustees, lessees, or receivers, successors or assigns, except as
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18 hereinafter provided, and except cities, towns, or other bodies
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19 politic, that now or hereafter may own, operate, or manage any plant
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20 or equipment, or any part thereof, directly or indirectly, for
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21 public use, or may supply any commodity to be furnished to the
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22 public.
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23 (a) For the conveyance of gas by pipeline.
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 1 (b) For the production, transmission, delivery or
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2 furnishing of heat or light with gas.
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3 (c) For the production, transmission, delivery or
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4 furnishing electric current for light, heat or power.
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5 (d) For the transportation, delivery or furnishing of
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6 water for domestic purposes or for power. Provided
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7 further that a corporation organized and existing not
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8 for profit pursuant to Title 18 of the Oklahoma
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9 Statutes, Sections 851-863, but for the purpose of
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10 developing and providing rural water supply and sewage
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11 disposal facilities to serve rural residents shall not
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12 be declared a public utility under this act, and shall
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13 be exempt in any and all respects from the
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14 jurisdiction and control of the Corporation Commission
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15 of this state.
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16 2. The term "Commission" shall be taken to mean Corporation
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17 Commission of Oklahoma.
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18 B. Provided, that,:
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19 1. in Washington County, where any corporation, association,
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20 company, individuals, their trustees, lessees, or receivers,
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21 successors or assigns, is engaged in the private business of
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22 manufacturing any products other than those hereinbefore defined,
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23 and in the manufacture of such products operate and maintain private
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24 electric or water plants for its own power and electrical energy or
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 1 water used in its manufacturing plant, without the right of eminent
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2 domain and without the use of streets, highways or public property,
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3 it may contract upon terms and prices approved by Corporation
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4 Commission the sale of a bona fide surplus of electrical energy or
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5 water developed in such private plants to any public utility engaged
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6 in manufacturing and distributing electrical energy in Washington
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7 County, Oklahoma, without becoming a public utility. Provided
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8 further any city or town within a county having a population of over
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9 five hundred thousand (500,000) or any county having a population of
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10 over five hundred thousand (500,000), according to the 1970 Federal
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11 Census, which is a beneficiary of a public trust that has multiple
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12 beneficiaries and that includes within any or all of its boundaries
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13 a water supply and/or distribution system, or any portion thereof,
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14 shall have the authority to condemn all or any portion of any water
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15 supply and/or distribution system owned and/or operated and/or
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16 leased by a public trust within the limits of the condemning city or
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17 town or within the unincorporated areas of the condemning county;
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18 provided the power granted hereunder shall not be exercised until
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19 the condemning city, town or county shall have made provision to pay
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20 off all outstanding bonded indebtedness incurred by the public
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21 trust, including interest on the bonds to maturity of the bonds, or
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22 first call date, and premium, if any, to which the property to be
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23 condemned or the revenues therefrom has been pledged for security.
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 1 2. The term "public utility" shall not include or be taken to
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2 mean a corporation, association, company, individuals, their
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3 trustees, lessees, or receivers, successors or assigns which:
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4 a. furnish an electric service or commodity only to
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5 itself, its employees, or its tenants as an incident
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6 of employment or tenancy, if that service or commodity
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7 is not resold to or used by others, or
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8 b. owns or operates in this state equipment or facilities
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9 to produce, generate, transmit, distribute, sell, or
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10 furnish electric energy to an electric utility, if the
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11 equipment or facilities are used primarily to produce
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12 and generate electric energy for consumption by that
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13 person.
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14 SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 17 O.S. 2021, Section 158.50, is
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15 amended to read as follows:
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16 Section 158.50 1. "Acquiring party" means a person and all
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17 affiliates thereof by whom or on whose behalf an acquisition of
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18 control referred to in Section 2 158.51 of this act title is to be
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19 effected;
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20 2. "Affiliate" means a person who directly, or indirectly
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21 through one or more intermediaries, controls, or is controlled by or
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22 is under common control with the person specified including any
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23 corporation created at the direction of the person specified for
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24 purposes of corporate reorganization;
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 1 3. "Commission" means the Oklahoma Corporation Commission;
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2 4. "Control" (including the terms "controlling", "controlled
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3 by", and "under common control with") means the possession, direct
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4 or indirect, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the
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5 management and policies of a person, whether through the ownership,
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6 by contract, purchase of assets, or otherwise, unless such power is
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7 the result of an official position with, or corporate office held
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8 in, such person. Control shall be presumed to exist if any person,
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9 directly or indirectly, owns or controls the assets of such rural
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10 electric cooperative. This presumption may be rebutted by showing
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11 that control does not exist in fact. The Commission may determine,
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12 after furnishing all persons in interest notice and opportunity to
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13 be heard and making specific findings of fact to support such
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14 determination, that control exists in fact, notwithstanding the
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15 absence of a presumption to that effect;
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16 5. "Domestic public utility" means a person doing business in
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17 the state, including any other person controlling such a domestic
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18 public utility, any substantial portion of the revenues of which,
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19 either directly or indirectly, are derived from the business of
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20 providing utility service in this state, except that such term does
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21 not include agencies, authorities or instrumentalities of the United
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22 States or a state or political subdivision of a state;
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23 6. "Person" means an individual, a corporation, a partnership,
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24 an association, a joint stock company, a trust, an unincorporated
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 1 organization, any similar entity or any combination of the foregoing
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2 acting in concert, but shall not include any securities broker
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3 performing no more than the usual and customary broker's function;
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4 7. "Rural electric cooperative" means a person doing business
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5 in the state, pursuant to Section 437.1 et seq. of Title 18 of the
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6 Oklahoma Statutes;
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7 8. "Utility service" means the distribution, delivery or
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8 furnishing of electric current for sale to the public for light,
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9 heat or power, provided that such term shall not include entities as
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10 described by the provisions of paragraph 2 of subsection B of
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11 Section 151 of this title;
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12 9. "Assets" in the case of a rural electric cooperative means
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13 the physical plant, equipment, accounts receivable, accounts
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14 payable, capital credits and all other assets of such rural electric
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15 cooperative.
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16 SECTION 3. AMENDATORY 17 O.S. 2021, Section 181, is
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17 amended to read as follows:
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18 Section 181. In this act unless the context otherwise requires:
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19 (1) "Public utility" means and embraces every corporation
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20 organized or doing business in this state, (except a
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21 municipal corporation or other political subdivision
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22 of this state), that now owns or hereafter may own,
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23 operate or manage any plant or equipment for the
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24 manufacture, production, transmission, delivery or of
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 1 furnishing electric current for light, heat or power
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2 for public use in this state, provided that such term
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3 shall not include entities as described by the
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4 provisions of paragraph 2 of subsection B of Section
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5 151 of this title.
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6 (2) "Commission" means the Corporation Commission of the
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7 State of Oklahoma.
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8 (3) "Securities" means capital stock and evidences of
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9 indebtedness having the standing of negotiable
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10 instruments of a public utility, not including,
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11 however, any such obligation falling due twelve (12)
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12 months or less after its issuance.
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13 SECTION 4. AMENDATORY 17 O.S. 2021, Section 250, is
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14 amended to read as follows:
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15 Section 250. As used in this act:
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16 1. "Affiliated person, subsidiary, firm or corporation" means
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17 any person, subsidiary, firm or corporation which:
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18 a. controls or is controlled by a public utility,
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19 b. is controlled by an entity that also controls the
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20 utility, or
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21 c. the utility or an entity controlling the utility has
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22 directly or indirectly the power to control;
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23 2. "Commission" means any state regulatory body which has
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24 jurisdiction to regulate public utilities or electric cooperatives;
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 1 3. "Emergency sales of gas" mean sales of natural gas made by a
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2 public utility or subsidiary thereof to one or more interstate
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3 pipelines or other out-of-state customer pursuant to federal law
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4 which exempts such transactions from the jurisdiction of the Federal
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5 Power Commission;
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6 4. "Fair field price" means the value attributed to gas
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7 produced from wells owned by a public utility, or a subsidiary or
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8 affiliate of a public utility, which shall be the going price paid
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9 by the utility, subsidiary or affiliate to others in the field where
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10 such production is located. If the utility, subsidiary or affiliate
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11 is not purchasing gas in such field, then such value shall be the
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12 price paid by the utility, subsidiary or affiliate in the nearest
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13 field where conditions are similar. The value to be attributed to
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14 residue gas owned by a public utility, or a subsidiary or affiliate
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15 of a public utility, from gas processing plants shall be the going
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16 price paid by the utility, subsidiary or affiliate to others from
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17 the same plant. If the utility, subsidiary or affiliate is not
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18 purchasing gas from said plant, then the value shall be the price
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19 paid by the utility, subsidiary or affiliate at the nearest plant
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20 where conditions are similar. However, the Commission may require
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21 an adjustment of the fair field price when it deems it proper to do
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22 so based on information before it. The fair field price shall not
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23 be applicable to gas purchased by a public utility from a subsidiary
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 1 or affiliate of a public utility pursuant to a competitive bid
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2 process;
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3 5. "Fuel adjustment clause" means any mechanism which allows a
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4 public utility or electric generating cooperative to automatically
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5 adjust its charges above or below the base amount included in its
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6 rates, based upon changes in costs of fuel for generation of
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7 electricity, purchased power or purchased gas;
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8 6. "Heat rate" means a measure of the efficiency of an electric
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9 generating station, computed by dividing the total British Thermal
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10 Unit content of the fuel burned by the resulting net kilowatt-hours
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11 generated;
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12 7. "Line loss" means the kilowatt-hours of electricity lost in
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13 the operation of an electric transmission or distribution system;
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14 8. "Public utility" or "utility" means any individual, firm,
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15 association, partnership, corporation, or any combination thereof,
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16 other than a municipal corporation or their lessees, trustees and
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17 receivers, owning or operating for compensation in this state
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18 equipment or facilities for:
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19 a. producing, generating, transmitting, distributing,
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20 selling or furnishing electricity, or
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21 b. transmitting, directly or indirectly, or distributing
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22 combustible hydrocarbon natural or synthetic natural
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23 gas for sale to the public or for wholesale, unless
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24 its wholesale rates are regulated by a federal agency,
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 1 provided that such term shall not include entities as described by
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2 the provisions of paragraph 2 of subsection B of Section 151 of this
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3 title; and
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4 9. "Purchased power adjustment clause" means any mechanism
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5 which allows an electric public utility or electric distribution
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6 cooperative to adjust its charges above or below the base amount
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7 included in its rates based upon changes in costs of wholesale power
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8 purchased from others.
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9 SECTION 5. It being immediately necessary for the preservation
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10 of the public peace, health or safety, an emergency is hereby
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11 declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effect and
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12 be in full force from and after its passage and approval.
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14 59-2-8559 JM 01/03/24
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