What the commission has in front of it
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission is the elected body that sets the rates Public Service Company of Oklahoma may charge. PSO serves much of eastern and southwestern Oklahoma. The commission’s open question is what a very large new customer, such as an AI data center, must sign before PSO connects it. Those rules will sit in a tariff, which is the formal schedule of prices and terms a utility must follow once the commission approves it.
At its October 27 meeting, one commissioner proposed a draft order that approves PSO’s large load tariff. The draft also asks the parties for more evidence on how to design and price service for a customer that brings its own power. The commission said it would take up the draft at its meeting on Tuesday, November 3, 2026. The draft order had not been filed as of October 29. OK Energy Today
The terms the judge recommended
On August 21, 2026, an administrative law judge filed a report on the case. An administrative law judge is a hearing officer who takes evidence and writes a recommendation that the commissioners can accept, change or reject. The judge recommended adopting a settlement signed by Google, the commission’s own utility staff and the Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma. PSO did not sign it. OCC filing
The settlement terms apply to any customer that contracts for more than 75 megawatts at one delivery point under a contract signed on or after July 1, 2026. A megawatt is a unit of electric power. The terms reach any customer that size, not only AI data centers. Each customer chooses among three options. It can take all its power from PSO, supply all of its own power, or mix the two.
Self-supply means the customer arranges its own generation from a wholesale seller or its own plant, and PSO’s lines still deliver it. A customer that takes full PSO service signs a 15 year contract, with up to five years to ramp up. A self-supply customer signs for at least 10 years. Every customer pays the full cost of the lines and equipment that connect its site up front. It also prepays enough of the wider grid upgrades to keep other customers’ transmission rates from rising.
The monthly bill is based on at least 80 percent of the power the customer signed up for. That holds even if the site uses less. Collateral is money or a guarantee posted to back a customer’s promise to pay. A full service customer posts collateral equal to 48 months of its minimum bills, not counting fuel, recalculated every year. It may use a guarantee from a parent rated at least A minus, a standby guarantee from a highly rated U.S. bank, or cash.
Self-supply customers post no collateral and may leave at any time without an exit fee. They must still pay what they owe for connection costs. A full service customer may give notice to leave only after 60 months of service. It must give 24 months of notice and pay an exit fee. The fee is the present value of the remaining costs PSO took on to serve that customer.
How the terms compare with PSO’s current large customer rate
PSO’s largest customers now take its Large Power and Light schedule. That schedule requires a written contract and a monthly base charge of $280. PSO rate schedule, PSO tariff book The recommended terms keep the $280 charge for now.
| Item | PSO’s current large customer rate | Terms the judge recommended |
|---|---|---|
| Who it applies to | Customers served at high voltage who choose the schedule | Any customer contracting for more than 75 megawatts at one site |
| Length of commitment | Twelve consecutive months once the schedule is chosen | 15 years for full PSO service and 10 years for self-supply |
| Connection costs | Paid in advance only if expected revenue falls short of PSO’s allowed return | Customer pays all direct connection costs up front |
| Minimum monthly bill | Base charge plus demand charges | Billed on at least 80 percent of the power signed up for |
| Financial security | Cash, a bond or a bank guarantee if PSO asks | 48 months of minimum bills for full PSO service |
Why PSO opposes the self-supply option
PSO argued that self-supply lets another company sell power to PSO’s retail customer over PSO’s lines. PSO says Oklahoma law does not allow that. OCC filing It pointed to a 2025 state law that lets a customer generate power on its own premises for its own use. PSO said that law is the only form of self-supply the legislature has authorized.
The judge disagreed. He found the settlement lawful because PSO remains the customer’s retail supplier. He also declined requests from an industrial customer group to cut the full service contract to 10 years and the collateral to 24 months. He said the commission could adopt those changes without harming the tariff.
The signers wrote that the settlement is void if the commission changes any term without their consent. That matters for the draft order, which approves PSO’s tariff while leaving the pricing of self-supply for more study. If the final order departs from the settlement, the signers are no longer bound by it. In that case, an AI data center would commit to whatever terms the final order sets, not the terms the judge recommended.
Tomorrow: An AI data center developer’s federal lawsuit against Pulaski County’s ordinance.
Tomorrow’s topic
An AI data center developer’s federal lawsuit against Pulaski County’s ordinance.