2022 Oklahoma Statutes
Title 74. State Government
§74-9074. Financing order.

A. Upon the determination that a regulated utility has extreme purchase costs, extraordinary costs or both that are subject to this act and may be mitigated by issuing ratepayer-backed bonds, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission shall make necessary findings and conclusions to result in a financing order under this act, either in the same order or through a continued or separate proceeding. The financing order shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

1. The quantified amount of extreme purchase costs and extraordinary costs to be recovered using a financial instrument;

2. The maturity or range of maturities of bonds authorized to be issued, and a corresponding amortization period of customer charges, subject to reasonable provisions for true-up and reconciliation, with any authorized maturity not to exceed thirty (30) years;

3. The creation of an irrevocable and nonbypassable mechanism under which the regulated utility will recover from customers an amount necessary to service, repay and administer the ratepayer-backed bonds. A customer's monthly billing charges collected pursuant to the nonbypassable mechanism established under a financing order shall be based upon the then-current monthly billing of the customer and shall be a separate line-item on the monthly bill of the customer. The nonbypassable mechanism shall include procedures for receiving accounting information from the Oklahoma Development Finance Authority and calculating factors to be applied to customer bills. The mechanism shall remain in effect until the complete repayment and retirement of any ratepayer-backed bonds, or refunding bonds, authorized under the financing order;

4. The frequency of true-up and reconciliation of the customer repayment revenues collected through the nonbypassable mechanism, whether on a monthly, quarterly or semiannual basis;

5. The method by which the customer repayment charges will be allocated among the various customer classes; and

6. The requirement that all funds received under the irrevocable and nonbypassable mechanism be provided immediately to the holder of securitization property pursuant to Section 6 of this act for the purpose of repaying, servicing and administering the ratepayer-backed bonds authorized by the financing order.

B. Prior to issuing a financing order, the Commission shall consult with the Deputy Treasurer for Policy and Debt Management regarding the marketability and efficiency of any proposed financing authorized by a financing order.

C. The Commission shall issue an order no later than one hundred eighty (180) days from the date the Commission receives all necessary information and documentation pursuant to Section 4 of this act.

D. On the same date a financing order is issued, a copy of the order shall be delivered to the Governor, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Oklahoma Development Finance Authority.

E. A financing order shall be effective immediately upon issuance.

F. A financing order shall not be subject to any form of rehearing after thirty (30) days from the issuance of the order, subject to appeals pursuant to Section 20 of Article IX of the Oklahoma Constitution.

G. Upon entering a financing order under this act, a regulated utility shall not recover the extreme purchase costs and extraordinary costs identified and quantified in the financing order from customers except through the transfer of securitization property as provided in Section 6 of this act in exchange for the proceeds of a bond issuance, which shall offset and complete the recovery of extreme purchase costs and extraordinary costs for the regulated utility.

H. Upon the issuance of any financing order pursuant to this section, the periodic determination of factors for customer collection with true-up and reconciliation authorized by the financing order shall not be removed, adjusted or interrupted by any other regulatory determination of the Commission except where adjustments are warranted as a result of an audit of amounts actually collected from customers and provided to the Authority or where insurance proceeds, government grants or other funding sources offset or reduce the amount of extreme purchase costs and extraordinary costs to be recovered from customers. No adjustments shall in any manner impair or prevent the collection of sufficient revenues to service and repay ratepayer-backed bonds.

I. No ratepayer-backed bonds authorized in a financing order, except for refunding obligations authorized under subsection D of Section 8 of this act, may be issued more than twenty-four (24) months after issuance of the financing order pursuant to this section.

Added by Laws 2021, c. 204, § 5, emerg. eff. April 23, 2021.