Both the Oklahoma Senate and House have passed Senate Bill 1456, which would allow utilities to impose a surcharge on customers who install rooftop solar and sign up for net-metering, reports the Oklahoman. The bill now heads to Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin for her signature.
The bill will require the Oklahoma Corporation Commission to establish a separate customer class and monthly surcharge for new distributed generation customers. Existing net-metering customers will not be affected. The surcharges would begin by the end of 2015.
Oklahoma Gas and Electric and Public Service Co. of Oklahoma support the bill and say the surcharge makes it more fair for non-renewables customers who shouldn’t have to pay all the costs of infrastructure maintenance and upgrades.
A similar surcharge has been established in Arizona by Arizona Public Service.
