VOICE responds to ONG’s proposed “opt-out” fee
[Excerpts]
Customers could see a small spike in their monthly bill to pay for gas they already used during the Artic blast in February if a proposal from Oklahoma Natural Gas is approved by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, or they can bail out with a lump sum if they want to cut off services.
“They already failed to prepare for cold weather and to keep our, you know, utilities flowing. That’s on them, that’s not on us,” said Nick Singer, with Voices Organized in Civic Engagement or VOICE.
“At the same time, the pipelines were freezing. It drove the supply, drove the demand way up, which means the prices spiked,” said Cheyenne Skye Branscum, Chapter Chair of the Oklahoma Sierra Club.
The spike cost Oklahoma Natural Gas $1.37 billion. Now, the company is trying to figure out how to recover costs through a securitization process, bonds from the state government that allowed companies to repay vendors for gas used during the storm.
“Securitization has really given them a way out and they’re using it in increasingly abusive ways,” said Singer.