ROFR Or Not A ROFR? Energy A Hot Topic At Oklahoma State Capitol

When is a ROFR not a ROFR? Political analyst Scott Mitchell and Jerry Bohnen with OK Energy Today talk about this topic, which is commanding a lot of attention at the Oklahoma state Capitol but not many of the headlines.

Watch the video at the top of the page, and click this link to read the full story on okenergytoday.com.

At hand is the extent to which utility companies can navigate their businesses without having to compete on bids. ROFR stands for Right Of First Refusal, which would give utilities wanting to build major transmission lines the ability to avoid competitive bidding. In Oklahoma, they already have it for "electric transmission lines at 300,000 volts and under." The hope some have is to give utilities ROFR privilege for bigger projects.

It is a "pocketbook issue," as it will impact monthly bills.

Opponents of ROFR laws say that requiring competitive bidding for the projects and the lines would result in lower costs. Proponents of ROFR laws say that allowing out-of-state utilities to built big transmission lines could lead to slow response times in emergency situations -- the argument being that there is effiency in ensuring that local utilities build and manage them.

Watch the full video with Scott and Jerry, above.