Corporation Commission rejects utility's solar tariff

Staff and Wire Reports

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission has unanimously voted against a plan by Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co. to change the way it calculates the bills for rooftop solar users, ordering the utility to thoroughly explore the issue in its pending rate case.

The order came almost two weeks after the commission indicated the utility's use of 2010 cost data to make its case for a new generation tariff was problematic, The Oklahoman reported.

The utility filed the case under a Senate bill that allows regulated utilities to charge a different rate to rooftop solar users if they're not paying their fair share of grid costs.

Commission Chairman
Bob Anthony says data from 2010 was "stale" and updated information would be a better alternative for determining rates.

A utility spokeswoman says the company was disappointed with the decision.

"We thought a separate case made sense for the distributed generation tariff," O'Shea said. "We met the legal requirements to file before the end of 2015. But this was not unexpected based on how the deliberations went."

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