OKLAHOMA CITY - Significant bills by southwest Oklahoma legislators passed through committees last week, although severe winter weather paused proceedings on Tuesday.
A crucial step towards ensuring the state’s energy future is secure, reliable and affordable was achieved when House Bill 2747, authored by House Appropriations and Budget Chairman Trey Caldwell (R-Lawton), passed out of the House Utilities Committee last Thursday.
The legislation promotes affordable and reliable energy generation by championing Oklahoma’s abundant natural gas resources while also restoring state control over high-voltage transmission infrastructure to ensure ratepayer and landowner protections, according to a legislative press release.
“Oklahoma ratepayers and landowners have been disadvantaged by policies of previous federal administrations for way too long,” Caldwell said in the release. “HB 2747 creates a level playing field for reliable natural gas generation to outshine federally subsidized renewable resources and support economic growth. This will help us protect ratepayers and landowners from unregulated transmission developers who have no accountability to Oklahomans while ensuring free market competition on the construction of these projects.”
If eventually signed into law, HB 2747 will protect Oklahomans and encourage economic growth by:
• Modernizing state regulations to increase new natural gas generation. It will give natural gas a fair chance to compete against federally subsidized renewables by reducing the cost of b uilding natural gas plants and enabling them to be built faster.
• Enhancing existing natural gas power plants and other key critical infrastructure, such as distribution lines and equipment, to boost efficiency and provide more reliable power now and in the future.
• Keeping rates affordable by requiring any changes to critical infrastructure to be reviewed through the traditional rate review process at the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.
• Preventing ratepayers from funding subsidies used to switch from one fuel source appliance to another in furtherance of liberal energy policies.
• Requiring a state-administered competitive bidding process for high-voltage transmission lines constructed in Oklahoma and reinstating the OCC’s right to oversee the costs before a single cent can be passed on to Oklahoma ratepayers.
• Ensuring landowners are protected from out-of-state developers placing high-voltage transmission on their property for 50 years or more with no oversight by or accountability to the state.
“At the end of the day, this bill will increase fair competition in the generation and transmission sector, while promoting economic development and faster market entry for much-needed critical infrastructure,” Caldwell said in the pr ess release.
The bill will now progress and be considered by the full House Energy and Natural Resources Oversight Committee.
An unrelated bill, HB 2751, also authored by Caldwell passed through the House Utilities Committee last week. The legislation, if signed in to law, will enforce a setback requirement related to wind turbines in counties that meet cer tain wind speed and population density requirements. The proposed measure is the culmination of work by multiple House members who filed wind setback bills this session.
“I appreciate the work of our Republican House members who came together to find a compromise that, while it doesn’t make everyone happy, addresses this issue in a way that works for all of Oklahoma,” Speaker of the House Kyle Hilbert (R-Bristow) said in a legis lative press release. “Our two-tiered committee process is intended to ensure work like this is done at the commit tee level, and this is a great example of the process working.”
The proposed measure contains the following requirements:
• A setback of 2.5x the fall down height of a wind turbine from the property line or a quarter mile from an occupied dwelling, whichever is greater, in the counties that meet the criteria.
• Average wind speed below 9.5 mph according to Oklahoma Climatological Survey.
• Population density greater than 8.5 per square mile according to the 2020 U.S. Census.
This bill is about property rights at its core,” Caldwell said in the press release. “We are trying to use common sense to mitigate disputes between property owners, some of which may want wind and some who don’t. This balances private property rights with the desire to encourage economic development in Oklahoma.”
In addition, the bill includes a local opt-in/ opt-out option. This will allow counties, by popular vote, to change their status of being subject to this wind setback. The measure will also require the Oklahoma Corporation Commission to maintain a list of counties and their wind setback status.
The bill now moves to the House Energy and Natural Resources Oversight Committee for further consideration.
In addition, Caldwell has authored five other bills that will be heard in the House Appropriations and Budget Committee this week. On Feb. 25 the committee will hear:
• HB 2753, which pertains to the Oklahoma Rural Jobs Act and would provide for expansion of the state ’s tax credit program for investments in rural businesses. The program currently allows up to $15 million in state tax credits per calendar year and the measure would allow eligible rural funds to access up to $200 million in additional state tax credits.
• HB 2745, per taining to revenue and taxation and would specifically modify the state’s banking privilege tax laws. Financial institutions with main off ices in the state would be eligible for a new deduction. The measure proposes, in part, that in the 2025 tax year, banks and lending institutions can deduct net interest income from three specific types of loans. They are qualified agricultural real estate loans, agricultural operating loans and single-family residence loans in rural areas.
• HB 2742, which pertains to cigarettes and the administration of cigarette excise taxes. The measure would modify the state’s cigarette and tobacco product tax regulations by updating several key definitions and tax exemption allowances. Existing tax exemptions for sales to veterans’ hospitals, U.S. government entities and federally recognized Native American tribes will stay the same. A new category would be added of partially tax-exempt heated tobacco products, which is different from traditional cigarettes that are burned.
On Feb. 26 the committee will hear:
• HB 2759, which is an act relating to volunteer firefighters and, if signed into law, will create the Oklahoma Volunteer Firefighter Support Program. It will create a grant program to support training for volunteer firefighters in the state.
• HB 2754, which is an act relating to public health and would create the Oklahoma Rural Hospitals Funding Assistance Grant Program Act of 2025. The intent of the measure is to support healthcare access in rural areas, specifically targeting medical facilities in towns with populations under 5,000 people. The State Department of Health would be tasked to administer the program. Assistant Majority Floor Leader Gerrid Kendrix (R-Altus) saw his measure, HB 2728, also known as the REINS Act pass the full House floor, 86-3, last Thursday. This is the second house priority bill passed with ti tle-on in the f irst three weeks of the legislative session.
The Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act of 2025 is a measure designed to enhance transparency and legislative oversight in the state ’s administrative rulemaking process and is modeled after similar federal legislation, stated a press release. The intent is to ensure that state agency regulations receive greater legislative review before taking effect.
“This is a major step toward ensuring the people’s elected representatives – not unelected agencies – have the final say on costly regulations,” Kendrix said in the r elease. “State agencies hold significant power in implementing laws, and this bill makes sure the Legislature plays a more active role in the process.”
If signed into law, HB 2728 would require all proposed agency rules to be submitted with an economic impact statement. Additionally, any rule projected to cost at le ast $1 million over five years would require separate legislative approval before it could take effect.
The bill will also es tablish the Legislative Economic Analysis Unit (LEAU) within the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency (LOFT) to provide independent reviews of agencies’ economic impact statements.
In addition, Kendrix has two bills scheduled for committee hearings this week. They are:
• HB 2738, which pertains to revenue and taxation and would amend sections of state law related to listing certain property. It would modify Oklahoma’s property tax filing deadlines and related penalties by extending the deadline for listing personal property from March 15 to April 15 each year.
• HB 2729, which pertains to administrative law and would specifically amend statutes to change how courts review state agency interpretations of laws and regulations. It would prohibit courts, hearing examiners and other administrative officers from deferring to a state agency’s interpretation of statutes, regulations or sub-regulatory documents.
Results of all committee meetings this week were not available by press time.