The state director of Americans For Prosperity-Oklahoma, released the following statement regarding the AEP-PSO rate request.
John Tidwell said, “Today Electric Power-Public Service Co. of Oklahoma (AEP-PSO) filed a rate case request to raise revenues $172 million per year to recover costs in their plan to satisfy EPA regional haze and air emission regulations by shuttering coal fired electric generation plants in the state.
“If the rate request is approved, the increase will have a profound impact on hundreds of thousands of Oklahoma families, senior citizens, and small businesses. On average, AEP-PSO customers would endure an average 14 percent raise in costs, resulting in a $14.53 per month increase in the average household’s bill. More than half a million Oklahoma customers would be affected. The devastating impact this would have on Oklahoma businesses in retail, manufacturing, and energy, just to name a few, would make our state much less attractive not only for businesses to expand, but would essentially shut our borders from any new expansion.
“Today’s announcement is a perfect example of how the Obama administration’s extreme environmental policies are having a negative impact on average homes and businesses across the country and here in Oklahoma.
“From the beginning, Americans for Prosperity has warned state and federal policymakers, as well as communities all across Oklahoma, that the EPA’s regional haze standards would significantly harm the pocketbooks of Oklahomans and their families. AFP will continue to fight these burdensome regulations and to stand up to the faceless bureaucracy in Washington on behalf of all Oklahomans who rely on affordable and dependable energy.”
