OpEd: Murphy Discusses Regulatory Impacts on Utility Costs
Dana Murphy: No ‘silver bullet’ solution to regulatory costs to electricity
BY DANA MURPHY, Friday, August 30, 2013
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission’s recent dismissal of the application of Public Service Co. of Oklahoma involving PSO’s settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency is by no means an end to the issues or their potential cost to all Oklahomans.
For PSO customers, it’s important to understand that the company and the EPA already have signed the agreement dealing with the utility’s approach to meeting certain EPA emission requirements.
Assuming final approval from the EPA – which has opened the public comment period on the agreement – there will be a cost, and it is a cost the utility will no doubt try to recover from its ratepayers.
PSO’s rough estimate of the cost is $88 million a year; about an 11 percent rise in the average bill. Critics of the plan say it will be much more.