Editor's note: This story was updated on March 4 to provide clarity as to what the agreement will allow Oklahoma Gas and Electric to do.
On March 5, Norman residents will vote on a 25-year franchise agreement with Oklahoma Gas and Electric, the same agreement voters rejected in January 2023.
If it passes, the agreement would allow OG&E to access public easements in Norman for the next 25 years. The agreement would also give OG&E access to the city’s right of way and easements to access electrical equipment for maintenance and service.
In addition, the city of Norman would receive revenue from a franchise fee. The franchise fee is 3% of OG&E’s gross revenue from the sale of electricity within Norman. If the franchise fee for any other city or town in Oklahoma contracted with OG&E exceeds 3%, Norman’s rate would increase to match the higher rate.
Norman would also receive a rebate on electricity used for traffic lights. The rebate cannot exceed 0.5% of the kilowatt hours sold to consumers within Norman.
Despite the lack of an ongoing franchise agreement, linemen currently have unrestricted access to city right of way and easements thanks to a good faith agreement between the city and OG&E, according to an OG&E spokesperson.
Norman residents, on social media and in opinion pieces published by the Norman Transcript, have expressed their concern with the terms of the agreement. Some believe 25 years is too long considering OG&E’s past performance, while others are simply frustrated by the OG&E commercials flooding television airwaves and social media feeds.
In September 2023, a petition to return the 25-year franchise agreement to the ballot was filed by Mayor Larry Heikkila. Norman residents and city council members reported to OU Daily that petitioners used misleading claims to gain signatures, which fueled tensions between OG&E and Normanites.
Heikkila recently said, in an article published by The Journal Record, the previous agreement failed because of “left-wing nut jobs” politicizing the issue.
Rep. Jared Deck (D-Norman) criticized Heikkila’s comments in a post on X, previously known as Twitter, in which he wrote Heikkila’s comments were inaccurate and unprofessional. Deck also urged his supporters not to return any pejorative rhetoric.
The territories split the state’s retail energy needs between the main three investor-owned public utility companies — OG&E, Liberty Utilities and the Public Service Company of Oklahoma. These companies supply the metropolitan areas of Oklahoma.
Heikkila said negotiating the length of contract with OG&E is not common practice. He said Norman doesn’t have any other option regarding who provides electricity due to longstanding territories imposed by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.
According to an OG&E representative, over 200 other communities have the same agreement, but Norman is the first community to deny it.
“There’s really no negotiating with OG&E, the franchise agreement is the same in all 500 some odd cities they go to. And basically, you cannot not do the franchise," Heikkila said. "They’re providing service but we cannot change service providers.”
According to 2019 data from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, nearly all of OG&E’s franchise agreements are 25 years in length, but the city of Warr Acres’ agreement includes an option to terminate after five years.
Alba Weaver, a senior manager for OG&E wrote in an email to OU Daily that factors such as the lifespan of equipment, like electrical poles, have influenced a shift to a standardized agreement in the past decade.
“Over the last decade, we have moved to a standard agreement and then work with cities or towns on infrastructure or energy needs specific to that community,” Weaver wrote.
Weaver addressed concerns of performance issues residents have, particularly in rural Norman.
“OG&E significantly invested in the infrastructure that serves Norman. Thirty-six of the 39 circuits that serve Norman perform better than circuits elsewhere across our system,” Weaver wrote.
Heikkila believes there isn’t much to be concerned about, citing OG&E’s quick response to power outages following the February 2023 tornado that hit Norman.
“You couldn’t have planned a worse place for them for the power to have gone out. And most of us, you know it was a day (to get the power back on). A group went two and a half days just because of the infrastructure,” Heikkila said.
According to Heikkila, Norman cannot consider alternative companies such as Oklahoma Electric Cooperative because of its rural mandate.
“Their mandate is rural. They take care of the rural area. OG&E take care of the populated area,” Heikkila said.
Heikkila is unsure of what the next steps are for Norman if the agreement does not pass on March 5.
“We don’t know. The court will have to guide us,” Heikkila wrote.
This article was edited by Peggy Dodd and Ismael Lele. Mary Ann Livingood copy edited this story.
