Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) submitted a filing designed to minimize the impacts that dramatic increases in fuel costs could have on customer bills. This filing, if approved, will increase the fuel cost adjustment on customer bills to reflect higher prices for natural gas and purchased power associated with the recent winter weather event, but would extend recovery of those costs over a longer period of time to avoid extreme bill increases.
While the final cost increase amount has not been determined, it is clear those fuel costs, along with the costs of PSO’s purchased power agreements were sharply higher than forecasted. The alignment of incurred fuel costs through this filing are requested to be spread out over an extended period of time to minimize impacts on PSO customers.
“We understand these fuel cost increases may create hardships for some customers and our priority has been to find a way to minimize those impacts. The costs associated with last week’s events were extraordinary and this filing is part of our effort to work with customers, regulators and others to find solutions,” said Matthew Horeled, PSO vice president – Regulatory & Finance.
PSO will continue to keep in place new and expanded payment plans for customers and will accommodate customers requesting removal from voluntary automatic payment plans.
PSO offers programs and information to help customers reduce the amount of energy they use. Customers looking for information on how to save money on their electric bills are encouraged to visit PSOklahoma.com/save.
About PSO
PSO, a unit of American Electric Power (Nasdaq: AEP), is an electric utility company serving more than 562,000 customer accounts in eastern and southwestern Oklahoma. Based in Tulsa, PSO owns approximately 3,800 megawatts of generating capacity fueled primarily by natural gas. It also maintains and operates 22,000 miles of distribution lines and 3,700 miles of transmission lines. PSO is one of the largest distributors of wind energy in the state. Find news releases and other information at www.PSOklahoma.com. Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @PSOklahoma.