In 2024, power was shut off hundreds of thousands of times after Oklahoma residents fell behind on electricity payments. The most recent information available shows the state led the nation in utility shut-offs relative to its size. Consumer advocates say the high rate likely stems from a lack of ratepayer protections and lower-than-average income.
StateImpact Oklahoma previously reported on a first-of-its-kind federal report showing Oklahoma’s high disconnection rate. New numbers from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) detail which utility companies are behind the reported shut-offs.
Power disconnections from investor-owned utilities aren’t commonly shared. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission, which regulates the state’s utilities, doesn’t keep those records. The EIA published its report after gathering data directly from utilities.
Public Service Company of Oklahoma disconnected power 290,739 times in 2024. Some likely occurred multiple times at the same address. By absolute numbers, the company ranks fifth nationally for shut-offs. But it exceeds all other utilities in its disconnection rate based on customer size. That analysis comes from advocacy organizations Energy and Policy Institute and the Energy Equity Project.
PSO spokesperson Matt Rahn pointed to the utility’s prepaid program, Power Pay, as the primary reason for the high rate. Customers add funds to their accounts to keep the lights on rather than pay at the end of the month. Electricity is turned off if the balance runs out. Rahn said about 73% of 2024’s disconnections, about 213,200 occurrences, came from customers enrolled in Power Pay.
“We provide multiple notices and payment assistance options before disconnection and follow all Oklahoma Corporation Commission requirements designed to protect customers,” he said.
Oklahoma Gas & Electric shut off power 167,275 times in 2024, according to the federal data. That number came from 85,415 residents, spokesperson Dustin Gabus said, since some addresses received more than one shut-off. The company doesn’t cut power for customers with a balance below $75, Gabus said. Its public disconnection policy states customers must pay a $21 fee to be reconnected.
Gabus said the company is exploring new billing and payment options in addition to the financial assistance it already offers, but did not provide specifics.
“Our goal is not to disconnect any customer, and we will continue to evaluate programs to ensure our customers can stay connected,” he said.
What Oklahoma rules say about electricity disconnections
Oklahoma has some consumer protections in place. The Corporation Commission does not allow utilities to cut off power when the National Weather Service forecasts temperatures below 32 degrees or when the heat index or actual temperature is expected to be 101 degrees or higher.
Neighboring states, including Missouri and Arkansas, suspend disconnections at 95 degrees. Advocates like AARP Oklahoma have pushed for the state to adopt the same hot weather threshold in recent years. Oklahoma’s temperature thresholds could be lowered through a rule change at the Corporation Commission or by the state legislature.
Lowering the temperature threshold would likely increase the number of days ineligible for electricity shut-offs. National Weather Service data from 2024 show the Oklahoma City area had 31 days at or above 95 degrees in hot weather months. The region had six days at or above 101 degrees. That temperature data does not include the heat index, which could also determine whether electricity gets shut off.
AARP Oklahoma frequently intervenes in utility rate cases at the commission and pushed for more consumer protections in January 2024. State Director Sean Voskuhl said he hears from residents who are trying to keep up with electricity rate increases amid financial hardship.
“People are really struggling making difficult trade-offs and either not paying their bill, or paying it later, or not the full amount,” he said.
The high disconnection rate could also stem from Oklahoma’s lower-than-average income. In 2024, the state ranked 42nd in the nation based on wages and other earnings like proprietors' income, dividends and government benefits.
Residential electricity rates in the state averaged around 12.24 cents per kilowatt-hour that year, according to EIA. As of March 2026, they averaged at 13.56 cents per kilowatt-hour. Monthly bills include other items like fuel costs and the winter storm charge.
The Corporation Commission is currently reviewing PSO’s latest rate increase proposal, which could add about $25 to average monthly bills. The utility company said the increase comes from investing in infrastructure upgrades.
Although final rate increases are typically lower than original proposals, paying just a few additional dollars each month can cause financial strain. Voskuhl said the state can do more to assist low-income residents.
“A $25 a month increase would be devastating for many Oklahomans, and especially those on fixed incomes,” he said. “We're fighting that right now, so we will see how that goes.”
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