Oklahoma City – As I have written, significant thanks are due to Professor David Greenwell, CPA, for being willing to say publicly what many others knew but chose to ignore. In my own words: for three years, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission has been conducting fake audits of the billions in 2021 Winter Storm fuel and bond costs.
Even worse, multiple times Corporation Commission testimony under oath affirmed these fake audits as real and lawful when they were not.
Let me be clear: there is no excuse for this. This commission is supposed to be a constitutional agency of “expertise” with the “powers and authority of a court of record.” But since the 2021 Winter Storm, this agency has given wildly inaccurate estimates to lawmakers, the Supreme Court and the public, it has allowed false testimony under oath, it has issued “Findings of Fact” that directly contradict the record, it has willfully neglected to provide audits of Winter Storm fuel and bond costs in accordance with the law, it has failed to do its constitutional duty to “correct abuses,” and it has publicly maligned private citizens who dared to exercise their legal right to protest.
In my opinion, fundamental aspects of Public Utility regulation at this agency are beyond “broken” and beyond dysfunctional; the OCC has lost its credibility.
Any argument that the Corporation Commission somehow didn’t know there was a legal definition for the word “audit” does not hold water.
For more than a decade, the Public Utility Division (“PUD”) has had embedded auditors from the State Auditor and Inspector’s Office who conduct lawful audits of several programs that this agency administers involving hundreds of millions of dollars.
As the law requires for such audits, the auditors are licensed CPAs, they are independent (they have no role approving or administering the funds they audit), and they conduct the audits in accordance with Government Auditing Standards.
What’s more, once in the past, when the OCC PUD almost strayed, it course-corrected. In 2016, an official from the State Auditor’s Office politely cautioned the head of the OCC’s Public Utility Division not to misuse the word “audit” or “auditor” when he was really talking about a review, analysis, examination, or assessment.
“Audits” are performed “in accordance with Standards,” she informed him, and the language of the OCC PUD’s proposed rules was changed accordingly.
But when it came to the 2021 Winter Storm – and some of the most expensive cases this Commission has ever considered – this agency chose not to follow the law. Even when the cost of the 2021 Winter Storm bonds came in a billion dollars higher than the OCC had estimated, even after I pointed out millions of dollars in cost discrepancies, even after I filed opinions citing state statutes about the required audits and auditing standards, the OCC continued to play misleading word games in defense of its so-called “audits” – and doubled-down by issuing more!
The public has a right to know when state regulators fail to follow the law on multi-billion-dollar utility matters that will impact customers for decades. The public also has a right to be angry about it. Frankly, at a cost of $5 billion, Oklahoma ratepayers should be furious. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission did not just allow “the largest fleecing of the Oklahoma ratepayer in the history of the state,” it abetted it.
The fully-footnoted version of Commissioner Anthony's statement is available online here:
https://public.occ.ok.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=16877523 .
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See also, these sources, recommended by Commissioner Anthony or by CityNews (**)
Greenwell, David. “Public Confusion over Audits is Unnecessary and Problematic” filed Jul. 8, 2024 in OCC Case Nos. PUD 2023-000087 and GD 2023-000005: https://public.occ.ok.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=16824207 .
Anthony, Bob. “Considerations and Dissent of Commissioner Bob Anthony, Part II: Unmasking the So-Called ‘Audit’ Charade” filed Apr. 8, 2024 in OCC Case Nos. PUD 2022-000093 and GD 2023-000005: https://public.occ.ok.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=16542008 .
Anthony, Bob. “Commissioner Bob Anthony asks, ‘WHERE’S THE AUDIT?’ on behalf of utility customers. Spoiler Alert: There aren’t any yet.” filed Mar. 25, 2024 in OCC Case Nos. GD 2023-000005 and PUD 2023-000086/87: https://public.occ.ok.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=16486747 .
Anthony, Bob. “Dissenting Opinion of Commissioner Bob Anthony – Ongoing Dereliction of Duty: Once Again, the OCC Ignores both State Statutes and the Requirements of Its Own Orders!” filed Nov. 3, 2023 in OCC Case No. PUD 2022-000093: https://public.occ.ok.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=14158294 .
Anthony, Bob. “Opinion of Corporation Commissioner Bob Anthony Regarding the So-Called ‘Audit’ of ONG Sent by the OCC to the Governor, Legislative Leaders and ODFA” filed Sep. 18, 2023 in OCC Case No. PUD 2023-000012: https://public.occ.ok.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=14031966 .
Anthony, Bob. “Deliberations Statement of Commissioner Bob Anthony” filed Sep. 6, 2023 in OCC Case No. PUD 2022-000093: https://public.occ.ok.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=14001425 .
Anthony, Bob. “Commissioner Bob Anthony Questions Millions in Cost Discrepancies” filed Feb. 24, 2023 in OCC Case Nos. PUD 2022-000057/77/89/93: https://public.occ.ok.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=13468654.
Anthony, Bob. “Report Card on Securitization: Anatomy of a State Government Screw-Up” filed Sept. 22, 2022 in OCC Cause Nos. PUD 202100072/76/79: https://public.occ.ok.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=12294753.
** Steve Fair. "Bob Anthony is a Good Steward – Commentary, posted Sept. 3, 2023, CityNews
https://www.citynewsokc.com/business/bob-anthony-is-a-good-steward----commentary/article_a9d1bbc6-4a9a-11ee-953e-fb3ef8a3d54a.html
A video recording of Tuesday's 1:30 p.m. meeting will be posted here:
https://oklahoma.gov/occ/public-meetings/2024-commission-meetings.html
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