COMMENTARY: Rising energy prices show why Oklahoma needs more energy — not restrictions
Limiting any energy source today could hurt consumers and landowners tomorrow
By CHARLIE KOLEAN
Oklahomans don’t need another reminder that energy prices matter.
Conflict in the Middle East has pushed oil prices upward, sending gasoline prices up almost a dollar a gallon in Oklahoma since February and reminding everyone how quickly global conflicts can ripple through energy markets. At the same time, something quieter but just as important is happening closer to home: electricity demand is surging. Across Oklahoma, families and businesses are already seeing the consequences in higher monthly utility bills.
Utilities and grid operators warn that electricity demand is rising rapidly as the economy grows and new technologies come online. Data centers, artificial intelligence, and population growth are all placing new demands on the power grid. One utility executive recently described the trend simply: demand is “increasing exponentially.”
When demand rises faster than supply, prices follow.
Which is why it is troubling that policymakers in Oklahoma are considering proposals that would make it harder for them to do so. Lawmakers in the state are considering a bill that would effectively kill farmers’ and ranchers’ ability to put wind turbines on their land.
This bill raises two troubling issues: restricting what Oklahomans can do with their private property, and restricting the sources of energy in the state amidst growing demand.
At first glance, restricting one type of energy may not seem like a major issue. But the implications reach much further.
While Oklahoma’s energy strength relies on oil and gas, it’s energy sources are diversifying. But all sources — oil, natural gas, wind, and solar — start with the land owner. All contribute to the state’s power supply. Each source helps meet Oklahoma’s demand, stabilize prices and support economic growth. Limiting any one puts upward pressure on prices.
Blocking any future energy development does not simply affect one industry. In this case, it removes the state’s fastest-growing source of new electricity supply available at a time when demand is accelerating.
That has consequences for consumers.
Energy supply works like any other market. When supply is abundant, prices are more stable. When supply is restricted, costs rise.
For households already struggling with rising grocery bills, housing costs and inflation, even higher energy prices are the last thing they need.
But there is another group that could be hurt by these restrictions as well: Oklahoma’s farmers and ranchers.
Agriculture has never been an easy business. Weather, commodity prices and input costs are largely outside a producer’s control. That is why many rural landowners rely on diversified sources of income to keep their operations stable.
Energy development has long been one of those opportunities.
An oil well, a natural gas pipeline, or a wind turbine can provide supplemental income that helps sustain a family farm during difficult years. In the case of wind energy, leasing a small portion of land for a turbine can generate around $12,000 per year while leaving the vast majority of the property available for farming or ranching.
For some families, that income can make the difference between weathering a tough season and selling land that has been in the family for generations.
Policies that restrict wind development do not just affect energy companies. They limit the choices available to the landowners who live and work on that land.
And there is a broader principle at stake as well.
Once government begins singling out one form of energy for restrictions, it becomes easier to apply that same logic elsewhere. Today the target may be wind turbines. Tomorrow it could be pipelines, oil wells, transmission lines or other forms of energy development.
That kind of precedent should concern anyone who believes landowners deserve the freedom to decide how their property is used.
Oklahoma’s energy success has never come from limiting opportunity. It has come from embracing innovation and allowing different forms of energy production to compete and thrive. In a world where global conflicts can send energy prices soaring and electricity demand is rising faster than ever before, the answer is not fewer options, but more supply.
Oklahoma should continue to pursue an all-of-the-above energy strategy that encourages oil, natural gas, wind, solar and emerging technologies alike. Doing so strengthens the economy, protects consumers from rising prices and preserves the ability of farmers and ranchers to use their land productively as they see fit.
Energy abundance has always been one of Oklahoma’s greatest advantages. Now is not the time to start restricting it.
Kolean is executive director of the Private Property Rights Institute (PPRI), a nonprofit organization committed to protecting landowners from government overreach, burdensome regulations and zoning restrictions that threaten their ability to control their property.
A very interesting article. Went well with my morning coffee ☕. I agree that all forms of energy systems need to be developed and expanded. Living in the desert of Southern Arizona, the people demand more electrical power ever summer to power their air conditioning systems. Just the rambling thoughts of an old hermit. (Oh, the nuclear power industry was one such industry that was destroyed by the government. Hope I haven't upset anyone. )