Gov. Mary Fallin signed Senate Bill 1456 into law recently. The new measure allows regulated electric utility companies to charge customers who generate electricity from rooftop solar panels or small wind turbines reported StateImpact Oklahoma.
The bill creates a new customer class that establishes a higher base customer charge to help companies recover some of the infrastructure costs required to absorb excess electricity back into the grid.
Oklahoma’s two major electric utilities, Oklahoma Gas and Electric and Public Service Co. of Oklahoma, supported the bill.
Environmental organizations, wind and solar advocates and conservative groups opposed the measure. MSNBC host Rachel Maddow criticized the bill this week, calling it a “sun tax” installed to protect the “bottom line of oil and gas and coal industries.”
An executive order accompanied the bill emphasizing the importance of renewable energy.
The bill and MSNBC video footage can be seen on StateImpact Oklahoma website.