OKLAHOMA CITY – Rep. Mickey Dollens, D-Oklahoma City, passed HB 3917 unanimously out of the Appropriations and Budget Natural Resources Subcommittee.

The measure requires data centers to pay a surcharge during peak demand periods, protecting residential customers from rate hikes and funding grid modernization.

“I want to thank the Committee Chair and Committee for hearing and passing this legislation,” said Dollens. “Simply put, customers who use more energy should be charged for that energy. This measure protects residential energy customers from unfair costs while ensuring that modernizing the electric grid does not get placed on the shoulders of Oklahomans.”

This measure creates in the State Treasury a revolving fund for the Oklahoma Corporation Commission designated as the “Grid Modernization Revolving Fund.” The Corporation Commission is authorized to use the fund for the purpose of modernizing the state's electric grid.

The bill now heads to the Appropriations and Budget Committee.

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