As used in this act:
1. "Authority" shall mean the Oklahoma Development Finance Authority pursuant to Section 5062.1 et seq. of Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
2. "Commission" shall mean the Oklahoma Corporation Commission;
3. "Extraordinary costs" shall mean costs incurred by a regulated utility related to the extreme weather that occurred beginning February 7, 2021, and ending February 21, 2021, including but not limited to fuel-related storage and associated costs, emergency compressed or liquified natural gas supplies, contracts for services providing additional pressurization on lines and transportation pipeline penalties. Extraordinary costs shall not include extreme purchase costs, as defined in this section;
4. "Financing order" shall mean an order issued by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission that authorizes securitization of qualified costs and the creation of an irrevocable and nonbypassable mechanism for utility customer payments to the regulated utility, its successors, assignees or collection agents, of amounts necessary for service and repayment of ratepayer-backed bonds, subject to true-up and reconciliation;
5. "Nonbypassable mechanism" shall mean that the payment of the utility customer charges under this act shall not be modified or avoided by any utility customer at an address located within a utility service area by switching providers, switching fuel sources or materially changing usage, and shall be paid by the customer for as long as bonds issued pursuant to Section 8 of this act remain outstanding;
6. "Extreme purchase costs" shall mean expenses incurred for the purchase of fuel, purchased power, natural gas commodity or any combination thereof, whether at spot pricing, index pricing or otherwise with delivery beginning February 7, 2021, and ending February 21, 2021;
7. "Qualified costs" shall mean the extreme purchase costs and extraordinary costs, as calculated and set out in a financing order of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, less any insurance proceeds, governmental grants or other funding sources, as well as any costs of managing ratepayer-backed bonds;
8. "Ratepayer-backed bonds" shall mean bonds issued pursuant to Section 8 of this act with service and repayment supported by utility customer charges consistent with this act;
9. "Regulated utility" shall mean any utility, as defined in this act, which is subject to the regulatory jurisdiction of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission with respect to its rates, charges and terms and conditions of service;
10. "Securitization" shall mean a financial tool creating a property right to revenues collected by a regulated utility from customers pursuant to an irrevocable and nonbypassable mechanism, which is then sold and used as security for repayment of an issuance of a ratepayer-backed bond;
11. "Securitization property" shall mean the right to receive revenues collected by a regulated utility from customers pursuant to an irrevocable and nonbypassable mechanism included in a financing order;
12. "True-up and reconciliation" shall mean the comparison of actual revenues received from customers with the revenues estimated to be received during a period determined by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission including any steps to carry forward the difference to a future collection period, as necessary to ensure the timely payment of ratepayer-backed bonds; and
13. "Utility" shall mean any person or entity doing business in this state that furnishes natural gas or electric current to its customers located at an address within this state and within the service area of the utility.
Added by Laws 2021, c. 204, § 3, emerg. eff. April 23, 2021.