News from the Oklahoma Corporation
Commission
Phone: (405)
521-4180, FAX: (405) 522-1623, www.occ.state.ok.us
August 2, 2001
The
Oklahoma Corporation Commission today approved an order finding ONEOK and its
subsidiaries, ONEOK Energy Marketing and Trading Company, L.P. (OEMT) and ONEOK
Gas Storage, L.L.C. (OGS), in contempt for failure to comply with a Commission
order.
At
issue is an order asking for documents related to natural gas purchases and
sales last winter. OCC Staff has said the documents are needed in order to
properly conduct a review of the gas costs borne by Oklahoma Natural Gas
customers last winter.
The
order imposes a fine of $500 a day (the
maximum allowed by state law), on each of the companies, for a total of 15
hundred dollars a day.
On
another matter, the Commission today began deliberations on the impact of the
high summer temperatures and disconnection of electric services. OCC rules
currently prohibit utility companies from cutting off electricity if the heat
index is actually, or is forecast to be, at or above 103 degrees Fahrenheit.
Representatives
of the state’s electric utilities, as well as OCC staff and officials with the Oklahoma
Department of Health were among those taking part in the discussion.
An
expanded deliberation on the topic will be held August 16, with members of the
public invited to attend and take part.
The
deliberations are part of a review of the impact of higher temperatures and
higher utility costs on Oklahomans, and whether the current rules regarding
disconnection are still appropriate.
-occ-