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Rate Matters and Regulation
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2025
Regulated Operations [Abstract]  
Rate Matters and Regulation

13. Rate Matters and Regulation

 

Except as disclosed below, the circumstances set forth in Note 14 to the financial statements included in the Registrants' 2024 Form 10-K appropriately represent, in all material respects, the current status of the Registrants' regulatory matters.

 

Completed Regulatory Matters

 

Integrated Resource Plans

 

OG&E recently issued its 2025 IRP to the OCC and APSC. This 2025 IRP is intended to address updated planning assumptions from OG&E’s 2024 IRP and present OG&E’s current capacity needs in light of the SPP’s planning reserve margin requirements for both summer and winter seasons as well as the SPP’s revised resource accreditation methodologies and updated load projections. The 2025 IRP identified capacity needs of 1,647 MWs by 2030 in the summer season and 1,017 MWs by 2030 in the winter season. OG&E has executed contracts for nearly 1,000 MWs of generation as a result of the 2024 request for proposal process, and regulatory approvals are currently being pursued, as further discussed below. OG&E intends to satisfy additional capacity needs through the request for proposal process initiated by OG&E’s 2024 IRP or future request for proposal processes, as needed.

 

SPP Proceedings

 

Resource Capacity Accreditation

 

In July 2022, the SPP Board of Directors approved a new unit accreditation methodology for conventional generation which requires submittal to and approval from the FERC prior to becoming effective. On March 2, 2023, the FERC rejected the SPP’s proposed capacity accreditation methodology for wind and solar generators. Following the FERC’s rejection, the SPP began an extensive review of both the methodology proposed for thermal resources which had not yet been submitted to the FERC, and the accreditation methodology for wind and solar generators. These methodologies were reviewed and approved by both the Regional State Committee and the SPP Board of Directors in late October 2023 and were submitted to the FERC for approval on February 23, 2024. On January 16, 2025, the FERC accepted the SPP's proposed tariff revisions for each accreditation methodology, which became effective October 1, 2025. OG&E is evaluating the impact of the FERC's acceptance of these accreditation methods, which may contribute to OG&E’s capacity needs.

 

FERC Proceedings

 

Muskogee to Fort Smith Transmission Project

 

On May 15, 2025, OG&E filed an application with the FERC requesting CWIP incentive and abandoned plant incentive for a high voltage transmission line project running from OG&E's Muskogee substation in Oklahoma to its Fort Smith substation in Arkansas at a cost of approximately $250 million. On July 15, 2025, the FERC issued an order approving OG&E's request. On August 12, 2025, OG&E accepted the notice to construct from the SPP for a total of 106 miles of new, upgraded, and rebuilt high voltage transmission lines. OG&E has commenced design work on this project and expects the project to go into service in stages beginning in 2027 and be fully in service by 2029. OG&E would be allowed to seek recovery of prudently incurred costs through its formula rates should this project be abandoned for circumstances outside of OG&E's control.

 

OCC Proceedings

 

2023 Oklahoma General Rate Review

 

In December 2023, OG&E filed a general rate review in Oklahoma, and on June 12, 2024, OG&E entered into an uncontested settlement agreement, which was also executed by the OCC Public Utility Division Staff, the Oklahoma Attorney General, the OG&E Shareholders Association, Oklahoma Industrial Energy Consumers and other intervenors. This settlement agreement resulted in an annual revenue requirement increase of $126.7 million. OG&E had the right to implement interim rates subject to refund beginning July 1, 2024 (180 days after the filing of its application on December 29, 2023). On July 1, 2024, OG&E implemented an annual interim rate increase in line with the settlement agreement, subject to refund based on final approval by the OCC.

 

On November 26, 2024, the OCC issued an interim order approving the settlement agreement; as such, no refund of interim rates was deemed necessary. The key terms of the interim order were discussed in the 2024 Form 10-K. On March 27, 2025, the OCC issued a final order in this matter, which affirmed its previous order approving the settlement agreement and approved the ALJ report on the remaining one MW issue with one exception. The one exception stated that in its next general rate review, OG&E shall directly assign the costs of transmission radials to new competitive load customers that are added to the system after November 1, 2023. No other changes were made to rates implemented effective July 1, 2024 after the November 26, 2024 interim order. While the OCC’s final order has been appealed, the rates will remain in effect.

 

2023 Oklahoma Fuel Prudency

 

On June 10, 2024, the Public Utility Division Staff filed their application initiating the prudence review of the 2023 fuel adjustment clause. The OCC issued an order on April 22, 2025 finding that OG&E's 2023 fuel costs and generation operations were prudent.

 

Pending Regulatory Matters

 

Various proceedings pending before state or federal regulatory agencies are described below. Unless stated otherwise, the Registrants cannot predict when the regulatory agency will act or what action the regulatory agency will take. The Registrants' financial results are dependent in part on timely and constructive decisions by the regulatory agencies that set OG&E's rates.

 

APSC Proceedings

 

Arkansas Prudence of Horseshoe Lake and Tinker Generation Facilities

 

On December 30, 2024, pursuant to orders in the generation construction notice filings, OG&E filed an application requesting a determination of prudence of action and initial contract costs for the generating units being constructed at Horseshoe Lake and Tinker Air Force Base. On May 19, 2025, intervenors, including the Attorney General, filed direct testimony and APSC staff recommended a finding of prudence of action and initial contract costs for both projects. The Attorney General recommended approval of the Horseshoe Lake project but raised concerns regarding certain elements of the Tinker Air Force Base project. On May 22, 2025, OG&E filed a supplemental application to serve as notice to the APSC of OG&E’s intent to recover the costs of these projects through a rider under the newly enacted Act 373. On June 16, 2025, OG&E filed rebuttal testimony to address concerns raised by the Attorney General in direct testimony. OG&E entered into a settlement agreement with APSC Staff on August 4, 2025 that agreed that the Horseshoe Lake and Tinker combustion turbines were prudent and that OG&E satisfied part of the eligibility criteria for recovery of these costs

through a Strategic Investment Rider. The Arkansas Attorney General opposes the part of the settlement relating to eligibility for a Strategic Investment Rider. On August 29, 2025, the APSC issued an order seeking additional testimony that responds to several questions related to the eligibility of the Strategic Investment Rider for out of state projects. On September 12, 2025, OG&E and APSC Staff filed responsive supplemental testimony. OG&E is awaiting a final order from the APSC.

 

2025 Arkansas Preapproval Case

 

On July 25, 2025, OG&E filed an application requesting several approvals from the APSC relating to three capacity projects arising from the 2024 request for proposals for generating capacity: (i) the Black Kettle Battery Storage capacity purchase agreement; (ii) the Kiamichi natural gas capacity purchase agreement; and (iii) construction of two additional combustion turbines at the Horseshoe Lake generating facility. OG&E is seeking authority to begin construction of the Horseshoe Lake units, a prudency determination of those new Horseshoe Lake units, authorization to enter into the Black Kettle capacity purchase agreement and other findings needed under Arkansas law, including eligibility to recover costs of the new Horseshoe Lake units through a rider under the newly enacted Act 373. Intervenors filed direct testimony on September 24, 2025, and OG&E filed rebuttal testimony on October 22, 2025.

 

FERC Proceedings

 

Order for Sponsored Transmission Upgrades within SPP

 

Under Attachment Z2 of the SPP Open Access Transmission Tariff, costs of participant-funded, or "sponsored," transmission upgrades may be recovered from other SPP customers who benefit from the upgrade. The FERC approved a waiver of a time limitation in the SPP tariff to allow the SPP in 2016 to bill for the 2008 through 2015 period due to information system limitations that had delayed that billing. The SPP then both billed users and credited sponsors, including OG&E, for Z2 charges during the period. OG&E refunded most of the net credits to customers through its various rate riders that include SPP activity, with the remaining amounts retained by OG&E.

 

Net payers of Z2 credits contested the waiver, leading the FERC to reverse its decision, deny the waiver, and instruct the SPP to refund payments made for charges from 2008 to 2015. OG&E and other net creditors challenged this reversal. However, the FERC upheld its reversal, and in August 2021 and September 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the FERC’s decision and denied relief to OG&E and the other creditors against SPP. All appellate options have now been exhausted.

 

The SPP has submitted a refund process to the FERC stating some issues need the FERC's clarification before refunds can proceed. OG&E and other parties have commented on the filings, and the matter remains pending before the FERC. The FERC has ordered the SPP to submit calculations of the amounts OG&E and other project sponsors must refund, with interest, and to clarify other aspects of the refund process by November 3, 2025. If the FERC orders refunds in full, OG&E estimates it will need to refund $14.0 million, net of amounts paid to other utilities for upgrades, plus interest. This would shift recovery of these upgrade credits to future periods. Of the $14.0 million, the Registrants would be impacted by $4.0 million in expense that initially benefited the Registrants in 2016, and OG&E customers would incur a net impact of $10.0 million in expense through rider mechanisms or the FERC formula rate. As of September 30, 2025, the Registrants have reserved $14.0 million plus estimated interest for a potential refund.

 

Subsequent to the initiation of the disputes discussed above, the FERC approved an SPP proposal to eliminate Attachment Z2 revenue crediting and replace it with a different rate mechanism that would provide project sponsors, such as OG&E, the same level of recovery. This elimination of the Attachment Z2 revenue crediting would only impact OG&E and its recovery of any future upgrade costs that it may incur as a project sponsor after July 2020. All projects initiated prior to July 2020 remain eligible to receive revenue credits under Attachment Z2, which includes the $14.0 million related to the refunds discussed above.

 

OCC Proceedings

 

Oklahoma Retail Electric Supplier Certified Territory Act Causes

 

As previously disclosed, several rural electric cooperative electricity suppliers filed complaints with the OCC alleging that OG&E, because it was providing service to large loads in another supplier's territory, had violated the Oklahoma Retail Electric Supplier Certified Territory Act. OG&E believes it is lawfully serving customers under specific exemptions under this act that allow it to serve customers having a load of one MW or greater. There were five complaint cases initiated at the OCC, and the OCC issued decisions on each of them. The OCC ruled in favor of the electric cooperatives in three of those cases under statutory interpretation and ruled in

favor of OG&E in two of those cases based on the defense of "laches," effectively determining that the plaintiff did not raise their claims in a timely manner. All five of those cases were appealed to the Oklahoma Supreme Court, with two additional appeals consolidated with two of the original appeals, so that there were five cases in total.

 

On April 4, 2023, the Oklahoma Supreme Court issued its opinion which vacated the OCC's injunctions in one of the five cases and held that the Oklahoma Retail Electric Supplier Certified Territory Act does not limit the mechanism by which OG&E may provide service to large loads in another supplier's territory pursuant to the one MW exception.

 

On March 4, 2025, the Oklahoma Supreme Court issued a decision in a second case, finding that OG&E may not “extend service” from third-party transmission facilities and also effectively reversed its decision in the prior case addressing the same claims. This ruling was prospective in nature, which means OG&E may still serve the customers subject to the ruling, but in the future, OG&E may not extend services off of third-party transmission facilities. On September 23, 2025, this decision was reaffirmed in another case by the Oklahoma Supreme Court. OG&E can continue serving existing customers that would have otherwise been impacted by this decision.

 

On June 17, 2025, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled in favor of OG&E’s appeal in another of the cases, resolving the statutory interpretation of how a supplier calculates “connected load for initial full operation" for purposes of the exemption under the act. This will allow OG&E to continue serving one MW customers outside its certified service territory based on the ‘nameplate rating,’ of all devices connected to a distribution system.

 

The appeals on the two claims in which the OCC ruled in favor of OG&E based on the defense of “laches” remain outstanding. However, even if the Oklahoma Supreme Court were to reject the laches defense, based on the rulings in the March 4, 2025 decision, OG&E believes that the ruling would be prospective in nature, and OG&E would continue to be able to serve the customers subject to the ruling.

 

2024 Oklahoma Fuel Prudency

 

On April 1, 2025, the Public Utility Division Staff filed their application initiating the prudence review of the 2024 fuel adjustment clause. OG&E filed its minimum filing requirements and direct testimony on June 2, 2025. Responsive testimony from intervenors was filed on August 14, 2025. No party took issue with any of OG&E’s 2024 fuel costs, operations or practices. On October 9, 2025, a hearing on the merits was held, and the ALJ recommended a finding of prudence for OG&E's fuel costs and procurement practices.

 

2025 Oklahoma Preapproval Case

 

On May 19, 2025, OG&E filed a preapproval case seeking OCC approval of three projects that will add capacity to the OG&E portfolio: (i) the Black Kettle Battery Storage capacity purchase agreement; (ii) the Kiamichi natural gas capacity purchase agreement; and (iii) construction of two additional combustion turbines at the Horseshoe Lake generating facility. OG&E seeks recovery through a rider, CWIP recovery for the Horseshoe Lake combustion turbines and a return on the Black Kettle and Kiamichi capacity purchase agreements. On August 18, 2025, intervenors filed responsive testimony, and on September 8, 2025, OG&E filed rebuttal testimony. On October 6, 2025, OG&E reached a non-unanimous settlement agreement with OCC Public Utility Division Staff, the Oklahoma Attorney General and the Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma. A hearing on this matter was completed on October 14, 2025. OG&E has requested an order in this matter by November 15, 2025.