Representative Tom Gann

R

District 8

Hi, I'm Tom Gann and I represent the people of Oklahoma's 8th District.


representative

News & Announcements

Aug 21, 2025
Recent Posts

Gann Challenges PSO’s 2021 Winter Storm Bonds at OK Supreme Court

OKLAHOMA CITY – An appeal brief filed Thursday by Rep. Tom Gann, R-Inola, asks the Oklahoma Supreme Court to invalidate some $700 million in ratepayer-backed bonds issued to cover costs incurred by Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) during February 2021’s Winter Storm Uri. Payments for those bonds have been collected on the monthly bills of PSO’s customers since the bonds were issued in September 2022. They are scheduled to continue for another 17 years. Gann’s brief tells the court that the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) failed to provide a required audit of the bonds in PSO’s most recent rate case. He also argues PSO’s original 2021 Uri costs that were securitized into the bonds were never audited either. Gann asserts the audit failures are fatal in both cases, making the OCC’s orders void.  The brief says Oklahoma utilities PSO, Oklahoma Gas & Electric Co. (OG&E), Oklahoma Natural Gas (ONG) and CenterPoint/Summit paid some of the highest natural gas prices in U.S. history during two weeks in February 2021, incurring some $2.8 billion in debt. Interest and other expenses added another $2 billion, bringing the total cost of the bonds being paid by Oklahoma utility customers close to $5 billion. Gann’s brief relies heavily on a report by former Oklahoma Accountancy Board Chairman David Greenwell filed at the OCC in July 2024. In it, Greenwell said the OCC’s audit activities with respect to the winter storm costs and bonds “do not appear to comply with state law.” Former OCC Commissioner Bob Anthony also repeatedly criticized the one-page audits the OCC was putting forward to meet statutory requirements. “When Oklahoma law requires an audit, the Accountancy Act says it has to be done by independent, licensed CPAs following nationally recognized standards,” said Gann, who is a former internal auditor for Tulsa International Airport. “Unbelievably, the OCC allowed the utilities to audit themselves after the winter storm. And OCC employees who are not CPAs have performed fake audits of the bonds ever since.” Gann has asked the court to order everything that was wrongly collected from PSO’s customers to be refunded. He says that includes $130-million and $120-million rate increases approved by the OCC in November 2023 and January 2025. It also includes about $140 million of Winter Storm bond payments already collected as “Winter Storm Cost Recovery Rider” charges on PSO customer bills.  OCC Commissioner Todd Hiett cast the deciding vote to approve each of the OCC orders Gann is challenging. Gann’s brief argues the orders also should be overturned because Hiett violated state ethics rules by participating in the cases. Hiett has been publicly accused of alleged sexual harassment and drunk driving at a 2023 party hosted by PSO’s attorneys. Even though no charges have been filed, Gann’s brief says Hiett’s behavior has made him subject to undue influence and possible extortion by those attorneys and others, and a reasonable person would question his impartiality in PSO cases.  In May 2025, the Ethics Commission dismissed a complaint against Hiett, finding that in this particular instance, Ethics Rule 4.7’s prohibition against conflicts of interest was not an issue. The Ethics Commission stated at the time that their decision took into account the constitutional requirements for the Corporation Commission, the legislative nature of the rate hikes and Oklahoma case law, including the well-recognized Rule of Necessity. Gann’s brief argues Commissioner Hiett should not have been held exempt from this rule and asks the Supreme Court to say so. Similar Supreme Court appeals have also been filed in rate cases for OG&E and ONG. Gann has been joined by Reps. Kevin West, R-Moore, and Rick West, R-Heavener, in those appeals. Gann’s full Brief in Chief can be read online here: https://www.oscn.net/dockets/GetDocument.aspx?ct=appellate&bc=1062686746&cn=CU-122861&fmt=pdf PSO, the OCC and the Attorney General’s Office have 40 days to respond. The progress of all the appeals can be followed on the Oklahoma Supreme Court website: PSO rate case: https://www.oscn.net/dockets/GetCaseInformation.aspx?db=appellate&number=122861 ONG, PSO & OG&E CY2023 fuel cases: https://oscn.net/dockets/GetCaseInformation.aspx?db=appellate&number=122991 OG&E rate case: https://oscn.net/dockets/GetCaseInformation.aspx?db=appellate&number=123021 ONG rate case: https://oscn.net/dockets/GetCaseInformation.aspx?db=appellate&number=123348

May 6, 2025
Recent Posts

Gann’s Appeal of Utility Case to Proceed Despite Ethics Decision

OKLAHOMA CITY – On Monday, the Oklahoma Supreme Court denied motions filed by the Oklahoma attorney general and Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) seeking to dismiss an appeal of the OCC’s recent $120 million rate increase for Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) brought by Rep. Tom Gann, R-Inola.  “Accordingly, this appeal shall proceed,” Chief Justice Dustin Rowe wrote. Monday’s order came despite a decision by the Oklahoma Ethics Commission last week dismissing Gann’s ethics complaint filed against Corporation Commissioner Todd Hiett. In a statement, the Ethics Commission said its determination was based in part on a December 2024 Supreme Court decision that declined to prohibit Hiett from hearing OCC cases that may be tainted by Hiett’s alleged misconduct. However, a concurring opinion by Justice Douglas Combs suggested Gann and the other petitioners, Reps. Kevin West, R-Moore, and Rick West, R-Heavener, instead bring individual appeals of the cases allegedly tainted by Hiett. Four appeals worth some $2 billion to customers of OG&E, ONG and PSO are currently pending before the Court, including Gann’s appeal of the PSO rate case which the court has now decided will proceed. In response to the Ethics Commission’s May 1 statement explaining its dismissal of Gann’s complaint filed against Hiett, Gann gave the following statement: "It is baffling how the Ethics Commission could read Justice Kuehn’s concurring opinion in OSC 122513 saying that: 'The Ethics Commission has the power to investigate the complaint, gather evidence, hold hearings, and give Respondent an opportunity to be heard before resolving the ethics claim.' "Yet they completely missed Justice Combs’ lengthy assessment in footnote 1 of his concurring opinion, concluding that: 'Thus, we now know that the rule of necessity need not be utilized to maintain a quorum of three in every case, and we can disregard Southwestern Bell's language to the contrary.' "If the Ethics Commission has decided that the common law Rule of Necessity allows Commissioner Hiett to participate in cases tainted by his misconduct, despite Ethics Rule 4’s prohibition against conflicts of interest, that means the Ethics Commission determined that there is reason to question Hiett’s impartiality in these cases. Otherwise, the Rule of Necessity, which only applies to biased or conflicted decision-makers, could not apply. "As made clear by Justice Kuehn, the Ethics Commission’s role was to be the trier of fact in the complaints against Hiett. Although the Commission did not disclose the details of its findings in that role, its mistaken legal conclusion indicates that the facts pointed to Hiett having a prohibited conflict of interest. "I look forward to hearing what the proper trier of law, the Oklahoma Supreme Court, has to say about the correct interpretation of Ethics Rule 4’s prohibition against OCC Commissioners participating in cases about which a reasonable person would question their impartiality – especially the dozens of OCC cases worth billions of dollars to Oklahoma utility customers that have been tainted by Hiett’s misconduct. I continue to be encouraged by the Court’s decisions and opinions, including Monday’s decision to let the first appeal proceed." The three legislators currently are appealing four utility cases worth more than $2 billion at the Oklahoma Supreme Court. They allege Hiett was legally required to disqualify himself from those cases, and that the Oklahoma Corporation Commission’s utility audits, including of the multi-billion dollar 2021 Winter Storm costs and bonds, did not comply with state law. 

May 5, 2025
Recent Posts

Gann Condemns Passage of SB987, Calls it Corporate Welfare Wrapped in Secrecy

OKLAHOMA CITY – Following the final House vote on Senate Bill 987 , Rep. Tom Gann, R-Inola, issued a statement about voting no and delivering floor debate in opposition of the measure. “Senate Bill 987 is not economic development. It is governance by nondisclosure agreement,” Gann said. “I believe this bill expands unaccountable government bureaucracy and entrenches corporate welfare practices that undermine the free-market principles we were elected to defend.” SB987 establishes a Department of Commerce board with the authority to conduct closed-door executive sessions, granting it powers to withhold feasibility studies, financial proposals and business plans from public scrutiny. Gann said it compounds the secrecy embedded in existing law under 74 O.S. § 5090.1, which requires legislators on the Legislative Evaluation and Development Committee to sign nondisclosure agreements. “Public funds should never be handed out behind closed doors,” Gann continued. “The Oklahoma taxpayer deserves transparency, debate and documentation—not decisions made in private meetings shielded from public view.” During floor debate, Gann cited Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman’s staunch opposition to corporate subsidies, reminding colleagues that government should not pick winners and losers in the marketplace. Gann also referenced past failures such as the CANOO deal, where he said governor-sponsored, state-backed incentives were squandered on a highly speculative electric vehicle startup that ultimately failed to deliver. “If Oklahoma had followed free-market principles instead of government-directed investment schemes, taxpayers wouldn’t be left holding the bag,” Gann said. “We should be improving the business climate for all, not giving special treatment to a politically connected few.” Gann emphasized the role of government is to create a stable legal framework and a level playing field, not to gamble with taxpayer dollars. He said SB987 doubles down on central planning while eliminating transparency and accountability. “This bill is the worst of both worlds—state-directed spending with zero transparency,” he concluded. “I voted no because I believe in sunlight, not subsidies. Oklahoma deserves real economic growth, not more rent-seeking risky ventures and backroom deals.” Gann asked the governor to veto SB987 and said he will work to repeal 74 O.S. § 5090.1 and pursue reforms that restore public trust, protect the free market and end what he calls "politically motivated giveaways."