Okla. Stat. tit. 17, § 17-158.43

A. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,

when as a result of annexation by a municipality, two or more retail

electric suppliers, excluding the Grand River Dam Authority but

including investor-owned utilities, rural electric cooperatives,

municipalities that provide electricity either directly or through a

trust, authority or other political entity and any other retail

supplier of electricity, have been authorized to serve consumers in

that annexed area, the area to be defined herein as the “affected

area”, the following procedure shall apply:

1. Any retail electric supplier authorized to serve consumers,

as described in subsection C of this section, in the affected area

which intends to negotiate a division of the affected area among the

affected retail electric suppliers shall notify all other retail

electric suppliers authorized to serve consumers in the same

affected area. Notification shall be performed by certified mail to

the chief executive officer of a privately owned retail electric

supplier, including investor-owned utilities and rural electric

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 17. Corporation Commission Page 101

cooperatives, or to the mayor of a municipality or chief executive

officer of any other governmental entity, and a copy of the

notification shall be transmitted simultaneously to the Corporation

Commission. All affected retail electric suppliers shall negotiate

in good faith to divide the affected area by mutual agreement,

consistent with the purposes of the Retail Electric Consumer Cost

Reduction, Safety and Service Efficiency Act as set out in Section 2

of this act. No retail electric supplier shall be required to

participate in negotiations for more than five affected areas at one

time. Any retail electric supplier that is engaged in, or has

received notice for, negotiations in five affected areas, may, upon

receipt of an additional notice or notices, advise the retail

electric supplier providing the additional notice or notices of that

fact, in which case the requirements of this subsection to negotiate

shall not begin until at least one of the previous negotiations is

completed or the parties are unable to agree after six (6) months of

negotiation;

2. Within six (6) months of the date of notification, the

affected retail electric suppliers may attempt to negotiate a

division of the affected area. Upon successful negotiation, the

affected retail electric suppliers shall execute a contract that

recites with specificity the precise division of the affected area.

An executed copy of the contract shall be filed with the Corporation

Commission by and for the investor-owned utility or the rural

electric cooperative. The Corporation Commission, within ninety

(90) days of receipt of an executed copy of the contract, shall

issue an order approving the division of the affected area as

specified in the contract for the investor-owned utility or the

rural electric cooperative unless the Corporation Commission

determines, after hearing, that the contract does not comply with

provisions of the Retail Electric Consumer Cost Reduction, Safety

and Service Efficiency Act or that it is not in the public interest.

There shall be a presumption that a contract that complies with

provisions of this act is in the public interest. If a municipal

electric supplier is a party to the contract dividing the affected

area, the contract shall be approved for the municipal electric

supplier by the governing body of the municipality that is providing

electricity either directly or through a trust, authority or other

political entity within ninety (90) days unless the governing body

of the municipality determines that the contract does not comply

with the provisions of the Retail Electric Consumer Cost Reduction,

Safety and Service Efficiency Act or that it is not in the public

interest. No contract executed under provisions of this act shall
ctricity either directly or through a trust, authority or other

political entity within ninety (90) days unless the governing body

of the municipality determines that the contract does not comply

with the provisions of the Retail Electric Consumer Cost Reduction,

Safety and Service Efficiency Act or that it is not in the public

interest. No contract executed under provisions of this act shall

become effective until the contract is approved by the Corporation

Commission for the investor-owned utility or the rural electric

cooperative and the governing body of the municipality in the case

of a municipal electric provider. Nothing in this act shall be

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 17. Corporation Commission Page 102

construed to authorize, create or imply any regulation of or

authority over any municipal electric provider by the Corporation

Commission for any purpose, whether or not an agreement under this

act is entered into by the municipal electric provider. To the

extent that a dispute arises after the execution and approval of an

agreement made pursuant to this act between an investor-owned

utility or a rural electric cooperative with a municipal electric

provider, then the Oklahoma district courts shall have exclusive

jurisdiction in the contract dispute;

3. The provisions of this paragraph shall not be applicable:

a. to a municipal electric provider, or

b. where one of the retail electric suppliers is a

municipal electric supplier and the municipal electric

supplier or any retail electric supplier are unable to

reach an agreement regarding the division of an

affected area, as defined in this act.

If the affected retail electric suppliers, excluding municipal

electric providers, are unable to agree to a division of the

affected area within the applicable six-month period, either retail

electric supplier shall have sixty (60) days in which to notify the

Corporation Commission of the inability of the retail electric

suppliers to negotiate a division of the affected area. Upon

receipt of the notice, the Corporation Commission shall, within six

(6) months, divide the affected area among the affected retail

electric suppliers based upon projected sales and other criteria so

that each affected retail electric supplier shall have, as nearly as

is reasonable, an approximately equal share of the projected

economic benefits associated with the extension of retail electric

service to new electric-consuming facilities in the affected area.

When dividing the affected area so as to achieve equal shares of the

future growth in projected economic benefit of providing retail

electric service in the affected area, the Corporation Commission

shall not consider the economic benefits associated with serving

retail electric customers existing prior to the order dividing the

affected area between retail electric suppliers. The Corporation

Commission shall consider economic projections provided by the

affected retail electric suppliers. The Corporation Commission may

choose to employ or contract with an independent consultant to

provide economic projections, in which case the reasonable, ordinary

and necessary costs of the consultant shall be borne equally by the

affected retail electric suppliers. In all cases, criteria upon

which the Corporation Commission makes its determination shall

include public safety, current and projected population, existing

electric service, current and anticipated municipal zoning,

potential customer revenue, quality of electric service, cost to

provide electric service, growth potential over a ten-year period,

conservation of natural resources and materials and efficient use of

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 17. Corporation Commission Page 103

public rights-of-way. After making its determination, the

Corporation Commission shall issue an order dividing the territory

among the affected retail electric suppliers. An order by the
, cost to

provide electric service, growth potential over a ten-year period,

conservation of natural resources and materials and efficient use of

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 17. Corporation Commission Page 103

public rights-of-way. After making its determination, the

Corporation Commission shall issue an order dividing the territory

among the affected retail electric suppliers. An order by the

Commission, dividing the affected area between the affected retail

electric suppliers, shall provide each retail electric supplier, as

nearly as is reasonable, an equal share of the future growth in

projected economic benefit of providing retail electric service in

the affected area. In no event, however, shall the Corporation

Commission issue an order that affects the right of a retail

electric supplier to continue serving existing customers in the

affected area that the retail electric supplier was serving prior to

the effective date of the Commission order except as otherwise

provided by law; and

4. During the time beginning when two or more retail electric

suppliers are authorized to serve consumers in an affected area and

ending when a contract is approved under this act, the affected

retail electric suppliers shall be entitled to continue to provide

and extend electric service to retail consumers within the affected

area. Nothing in this act shall be construed to affect the right of

a retail electric supplier to continue serving existing customers in

the affected area that the retail electric supplier was serving

prior to the effective date of approval by the Corporation

Commission.

B. Upon the approval by the Corporation Commission of an

agreement dividing an affected area as specified in the Retail

Electric Consumer Cost Reduction, Safety and Service Efficiency Act,

the governing body of a municipality may, at its sole discretion,

collect, by municipal ordinance, an annual municipal fee upon the

gross receipt from all retail sales of power, light, or electricity,

in the affected area of the municipality. An investor-owned utility

or rural electric cooperative that enters into a contract with

another retail electric supplier in an affected area, or that is

assigned territory by the Corporation Commission under subsection A

of this section, beginning thirty (30) days after the effective date

of the municipal ordinance, shall collect and remit to the

municipality in the affected area the municipal fee specified in the

municipal ordinance, upon the gross receipts from all retail sales

of power, light, or electricity, in the affected area of the

municipality. The municipal fee shall not exceed the cumulative

amount of any current or future municipal sales tax as applied to

each consumer plus the greater amount of any voter-approved

franchise fee or annual tax on gross receipts levied as a result of

a municipal ordinance enacted pursuant to Section 2601 of Title 68

of the Oklahoma Statutes less any current or future municipal sales

tax, franchise fee or gross receipts fee paid by the retail electric

service provider or its customers to the municipality. The

municipal fee amount shall be collected from the customers of the

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 17. Corporation Commission Page 104

retail electric supplier on the gross receipts from all retail sales

in the affected area within the municipal corporate limits and be

remitted by the retail electric supplier to the municipality in the

affected area.

C. Two or more retail electric suppliers shall be eligible to

initiate or participate in the negotiations provided by subsection A

of this section if, and only if, one of the following conditions is

met:

1. When a retail electric supplier has a franchise agreement

with a municipality, and the municipality annexes or has annexed

prior to the effective date of this act territory completely or

partially certified to one or more other retail electric suppliers
iate or participate in the negotiations provided by subsection A

of this section if, and only if, one of the following conditions is

met:

1. When a retail electric supplier has a franchise agreement

with a municipality, and the municipality annexes or has annexed

prior to the effective date of this act territory completely or

partially certified to one or more other retail electric suppliers

under the Retail Electric Supplier Certified Territory Act;

2. When a municipality or beneficial trust or authority thereof

provides retail electric distribution service from a municipally

owned or trust- or authority-owned electric distribution system, and

the municipality annexes or has annexed prior to the effective date

of this act territory completely or partially certified to one or

more other retail electric suppliers under the Retail Electric

Supplier Certified Territory Act;

3. When two or more retail electric suppliers are, upon the

effective date of this act, lawfully providing retail electric

service in an area that is not included within any other certified

territory of a retail electric supplier, as defined in the Retail

Electric Supplier Certified Territory Act; or

4. When by virtue of annexation by a municipality two or more

retail electric suppliers are authorized by franchise, state statute

or court order to provide retail electric service in such annexed

area.