Gas Companies Want Oklahoma Lawsuits Dropped or Moved
Oklahoma utility companies paid billions to buy natural gas for heating and electricity generation during a winter storm in February 2021. Customers are repaying that, plus billions in interest, in monthly installments that will continue for decades.
As Paul Monies reported, Drummond said in lawsuits that the pipeline companies and fuel marketers manipulated their parts of the intrastate pipeline system to bid up natural gas prices during the winter storm. The Oklahoma trading hub had the highest prices in the country, with natural gas prices hitting more than $1,200 per unit at times, up from about $3 per unit in the days before the storm.
Drummond has said repeatedly that Oklahoma utilities or state-based oil and gas companies were not to blame. One defendant, Houston-based Symmetry, which has a Tulsa office, called that a bogus distinction that ignores the realities of the energy industry and asked the court to dismiss the case or move it to Mayes or Tulsa County.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has investigated possible price manipulation on interstate pipelines during the winter storm but so far has not requested any federal prosecutions.
More worth reading:
New State Board Could Vote on St. Isidore Today
An item on the agenda for the new board’s first meeting is an executive session to discuss the litigation related to St. Isidore, and then, in open session, “Discussion and possible action regarding the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s June 25, 2024, ruling.” [The Oklahoman]
Tulsa Parks Getting Major Overhaul
The city of Tulsa has launched the largest effort in Tulsa Parks history to upgrade nearly all playgrounds and sports courts across the city’s parks system. [Tulsa World]
State Parks Got 10%
The Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation received 10% of what it asked from the legislature to fix state parks. [Oklahoma Voice]
Tribes Fill in Children’s Food Program
A new summer food program helped feed at least one in six Oklahoma children in its first month, after several tribal nations stepped in to distribute federal aid rejected by the governor. [The Oklahoman]
Toby Keith was born in Clinton on this day in 1961.
Ciao for now,
Ted Streuli
Executive Director, Oklahoma Watch
tstreuli@oklahomawatch.org
