Just what's so important about a once-in-a-quarter-century election?

Kim Archer, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise
·4 min read
Power lines
Power lines

Few people are aware of an election Tuesday that only happens in Bartlesville every 25 years. But it will affect just how quickly power can be restored after outages for the next quarter of a century.

The EE asked PSO Regional Communications Manager Wayne Greene what the election means for Bartlesville residents:

How does it work?

Voters will decide whether to keep a specific type of city ordinance in place for another 25 years. The next such vote will be in 2048."Quite simply, it is an agreement between PSO and the city that grants PSO permission to access city streets, alleys and rights or way to operate the electric grid," Greene said.

The agreement would continue a 2% franchise fee collected from customers by PSO and then remitted to the city for access to streets, alleys, and rights of way.

How much money does PSO collect in franchise fees?

In 2022, the franchise fee in Bartlesville totaled $889,738.

What are the benefits?

There are several benefits to Bartlesville to extending the PSO franchise, Greene says. The franchise:

  • Allows PSO to respond efficiently to the needs of Bartlesville citizens and prevents delays in power restoration.

  • Strengthens coordination between PSO and the city in weather emergencies to restore power as safely and quickly as possible.

  • Funds essential services such as police, fire and parks with franchise fees.

  • Facilitates building new homes, new businesses and growth and improvement in the electric grid.

  • Improves lives through charitable support of education, food security, equity and enhanced quality of life.

  • Provides municipal street lighting for 1/3 the cost compared to nonfranchise cities.

What if voters don't approve the measure?

"If the franchise does not pass, nothing would change between PSO and our customers," Greene said. "We will serve the same customers the day after the election as we serve the day before the election, regardless of the results."

However, if not approved, it would complicate PSO’s ability to get work permits for ordinary restoration and expansion work involving city streets, alleys and right of ways, he said.

"You can imagine how that might affect our ability to serve customers quickly and efficiently after an Oklahoma thunderstorm and even more so if that happened in the middle of the night or over a holiday," Greene said.

What is PSO?

Public Service Company of Oklahoma has been serving Oklahoma for more than 100 years. It is a unit of American Electric Power, an electric utility company serving more than 568,000 customer accounts and 232 communities in eastern and southwestern Oklahoma.

In Bartlesville, there are nearly 17,900 residential and business customers.

The Tulsa-based company has approximately 3,800 megawatts of diverse generating capacity that primarily includes wind and natural gas. It maintains and operates more than 24,000 miles of distribution lines and 3,700 miles of transmission lines and is one of the largest distributors of wind energy in the state.

Tuesday's election details:

The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Click here to see the ballot proposition.

Here is a list of precincts:

11 - Redeemer Lutheran Church 3700 SE Woodland Rd.

12 - Arvest Bank, Eastside Branch 4225 SE Adams Rd.

13 - Highland Park Baptist Church 300 SE Washington Blvd.

15 - Truth Church 4100 Nebraska St.

22 - HeartMatters 3401 SE Price Rd.

23 - First Church of the Nazarene 3650 SE Adams Rd.

27 - Greater First Baptist Church 216 W. 10th St.

28 - Spirit Church 2121 S. Madison Blvd.

29 - HeartMatters (sub) 3401 SE Price Rd.

32 - St. Luke’s Episcopal Church 210 SE 9th St.

33 - Revival Time Outreach Center 101 SW Virginia Ave.

46 - Oak Park Methodist Church 601 NW Brentwood Ave.

48 - East Bartlesville Christian Church 3221 E Tuxedo Blvd., Annex

51 - East Cross United Methodist Church 820 SE Madison Blvd.

54 - Calvary Chapel 1607 SE Swan Dr.

55 - Disciples Christian Church 5800 Douglas Lane

74 - Word of Truth Fellowship 16097 NE Bison Rd.

75 - Bartlesville Southern Baptist Church 5111 Nowata Rd.

79 - Caney Valley Senior Center 329 N Ochelata St., Ochelata

For questions, contact the Washington County Election Board at 918-337-2850 or washingtoncounty@elections.ok.gov.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Just what's so important about a once-in-a-quarter-century election?