Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) has agreed to reduce its base rates by $6.9 million under the terms of a proposed rate case settlement presented today to an Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) administrative law judge (ALJ).  The ALJ recommended approval of the settlement agreement and sent it to the full Commission for consideration.
 
Presented as a Joint Stipulation, the agreement was signed by all parties to the case.  If approved by the Commission, the settlement will end the rate case, which was initiated by the OCC in February 2003.
 
All parties involved in the case agreed that settling the issues in the Joint Stipulation is in the public interest, said PSO President and Chief Operating Officer Stuart Solomon.  “While a rate reduction is obviously good news for our customers, PSO also achieved some important goals, such as placing our Reliability Enhancement Rider into our permanent rates, as well as recovering some transmission and rail contract expenses.”
 
Under the plan, a typical PSO residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month would see a base rate reduction of $1.45 in their monthly bill.  If approved by the full OCC, customers would see that reduction beginning with their May electric bill.
 
PSO’s last increase in base rates was for $14.4 million and was approved by the OCC in December 1993.  Since that time, PSO has reduced its rates by more than $35 million.
 
There is no word at this time as to when the OCC might rule on the settlement agreement.
 
PSO, a unit of American Electric Power, is an electric utility company serving more than 505,000 customers in eastern and southwestern Oklahoma.  Based in Tulsa, PSO has more than 4,000 megawatts of generating capacity and offers some of the lowest energy prices in the United States.