A. The Oklahoma Development Finance Authority is hereby authorized to provide loans from the Unregulated Utility Consumer Protection Fund, created pursuant to Section 7 of this act, to unregulated utilities for the purposes provided in this act.B. Prior to executing any loan agreement with an unregulated utility, the Authority shall have determined the approved qualified costs of the unregulated utility. The principal amount of a loan to an unregulated utility shall not exceed the approved qualified costs.C. Loans made by the Authority shall be made pursuant to notes, bonds, revenue bonds or other appropriate form of evidence of indebtedness to the Authority by the unregulated utility. The interest rate and loan term shall be determined by the Authority. As part of the loan documents or other documents evidencing indebtedness under this subsection, the unregulated utility shall agree and pledge to collect and remit sufficient amounts to repay its indebtedness over the loan term agreed with the Authority. The Authority is authorized to issue credit with loan terms of and up to thirty (30) years.D. In the event an unregulated utility receives a loan pursuant to the provisions of this act, the unregulated utility shall base customer charges mitigated pursuant to this act on the then-current monthly billing of the customer and shall line-item such charges on the monthly bill of the unregulated utility customer.E. On the same date a loan is issued, the Authority shall notify in writing the Governor, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. This notification shall include the amount and terms of the loan.F. The Authority shall be authorized to take a security interest in any property or revenues of the unregulated utility, and a pledge of the revenues from the unregulated utility including customer charges may be pledged by the unregulated utility for such purposes.G. During the term of a loan, no person or entity other than the unregulated utility that is a party to the loan, shall provide a service relied upon for the security of any loan issued pursuant to this section and as identified in the loan documents or related security documents.H. The Authority is hereby authorized to issue utility revenue bonds or other obligations to provide adequate funds to capitalize the Unregulated Utility Consumer Protection Fund created pursuant to Section 7 of this act and meet the funding needs of loans approved by the Authority. The Authority is authorized to issue negotiable utility revenue bonds as may, in the opinion of the Authority, be necessary for such purposes, and to provide for the payment of such bonds and the rights of the bond holders, as provided in this act. The bonds may be issued in one or more series, may be sold in such manner and at such price or prices, may bear such date or dates, may mature at such time or times, may be in such denomination or denominations, may be in such form either coupon or registered, may carry such registration or conversion privileges, may be executed in such manner, may be payable in such medium of payments, at such place or places, may be subject to such terms of redemption, with or without premium, and may bear such rate or rates of interest, and shall be subject to such call for redemption as may be provided by resolution or resolutions to be adopted by the Authority and as are consistent with the terms of the loan or loans, security and other documents agreed with unregulated utilities. The Authority may pledge the Unregulated Utility Consumer Protection Fund, revenues from one or more loans to a single series or issuance of bonds as it may provide by resolution or resolutions to be adopted by the Authority. Bonds issued under this section shall have all of the qualities and incidents of negotiable paper, and the bonds and the interest earned on said bonds shall not be subject to taxation by the State of Oklahoma, or by any county, municipality or political subdivision therein. I. The Authority may issue utility revenue refunding bonds for the purpose of refinancing or restructuring its outstanding obligations. If bonds are issued under this subsection, the bonds may either be sold or delivered in exchange for the outstanding obligations. If sold, the process may be either applied to the payment of the obligations refunded or deposited in escrow for the retirement thereof.J. The utility revenue bonds or other obligations issued pursuant to this section shall not at any time be deemed to constitute a debt of the state or of any political subdivision thereof or a pledge of the full faith and credit of the state or any political subdivision. Such bonds or other obligations shall contain on the face thereof a statement that neither the faith and credit or the taxing power of the state or any political subdivision thereof is pledged or may hereafter be pledged to the payment of the principal of or interest on the bonds. Any utility revenue bonds or other obligations issued pursuant to this section shall contain on the face thereof a statement to the following effect: "Neither the full faith and credit nor the taxing power of the State of Oklahoma is pledged to the payment of the principal of, or interest on, this bond".
K. The State Treasurer is hereby authorized to purchase from the Authority at private sale all or any part of the bonds issued under this section as an investment of the public monies in his or her possession. It shall be the responsibility of the State Treasurer to invest only that portion of such public monies as he or she deems to be more than sufficient to meet current expenditures payable from public monies. The State Treasurer is authorized to buy and the Authority is authorized to sell to the State Treasurer at private sale so many of the bonds authorized by this section as may be safely purchased for investment of public monies by the State Treasurer without handicapping the state in promptly meeting its obligations. The State Treasurer may later sell such bonds as are necessary to ensure sufficient cash on hand is available to meet current expenditures payable from public monies.L. Bonds issued under this section shall be delivered to the purchaser only upon payment of par and accrued interest to the date of delivery, together with any premium bid.M. The proceeds of the sale of bonds issued under this section, and revenues received with respect to loans issued pursuant to subsection A of this section, shall be deposited in the State Treasury in the Unregulated Utility Consumer Protection Fund created pursuant to Section 7 of this act, where they shall remain subject to disposition to be provided for by the Authority consistent with this act, provided that the State Treasurer shall invest the monies in an interest-bearing account; and provided further, that all such investments of the monies must be so made that the same may be liquidated in time to enable the Authority to pay, in due course, the valid indebtedness incurred by the Authority for the purposes set forth in this section.N. Any bank, trust or insurance company organized under the laws of Oklahoma may invest its capital, surplus and reserve funds and other funds under its control in bonds issued under this section.Okla. Stat. tit. 74, § 9055
Added by Laws 2021 , c. 203, s. 6, eff. 4/23/2021.