Oklahoma House Speaker Designate Kyle Hilbert, (R-Bristow,) announced Thursday night at a packed meeting in Sapulpa the controversial federal plan to designate more than 600 miles of Oklahoma land as possible home for electrical transmission lines will not be built.

The proposal has prompted questions from people statewide.

Even though it’s not going to happen, Hilbert said an official word from the U.S. Department of Energy will come on Monday: here’s what we know about the proposal.

Q: What parts of the state would have been impacted?

A: The proposed 645-mile corridor spanned northern Oklahoma. It started near the Arkansas border by Fort Smith, paralleled I-40 near Sallisaw, then meandered north through south Tulsa County, Okmulgee County, Creek County, south of Stillwater, and across I-35, ultimately reaching Woodward and the Panhandle.

Q: What would this line have done?

A: If would have ferried electricity across the state and allowed the Southern Power Pool to move electricity across its service area to meet demand.

Q: Why build new transmission lines?

A: The SPP said in its most recent assessment report it expects an increased load on its system because there are new sources that pull power from the grid, like data centers, and utilities are retiring older power supplies like coal-fired plants. More transmission lines allow it to move electricity across the system easier and more efficiently.

Q: What does the SPP say they need to meet demand across Oklahoma and the rest of its service area?

A: It recommends new projects including:

1. 1,788 miles of extra-high voltage transmission (EHV)
2. 148 miles of rebuilt EHV transmission infrastructure
3. 545 miles of new high-voltage transmission
4. 347 miles of rebuilt high-voltage transmission.

Q: Why were people upset in Oklahoma?

A: Many were worried about eminent domain and the possibility this project would result in unwanted transmission lines being strewn across their land.

Q: What happens next?

A: The DOE is still narrowing down potential transmission corridors across the country. Hilbert did tell the crowd Thursday nobody will have lines built on their property without their approval.

Kellen Wolbert, the #22 ranked recruit in the class of 2026 and the #11 ranked 138-pounder in the country, committed to Oklahoma State earlier this week. He’s the second top-100 recruit the Cowboys have landed for that class on the heels of a 2025 class that’s currently ranked second among all division 1 recruiting classes.

Kellen Wolbert is heading to Oklahoma State!

Congrats Kellen! pic.twitter.com/mS6JuOIpbg

— WIwrestle (@WI_wrestle) December 10, 2024

Wolbert is a two-time Wisconsin state champion and a 2022 Fargo champion, and he chose the Cowboys after narrowing his school list to four schools: Oklahoma State, Michigan, Missouri, and Division 3 Wisconsin La Crosse.

The Oconomowoc high school junior is a massive recruit in the class of 2026. His commitment to Oklahoma State presents questions for several other top prospects in the class. Several of the top recruits in Wolbert’s weight range have already visited Oklahoma State including #1 Bo Bassett, #2 Jax Forrest, #5 Jordyn Raney, and #6 Jayden Raney. It will be fascinating to see if any or all of those recruits will fit into the Cowboys’ 2026 recruiting class alongside Wolbert.

Watch Kellen Wolbert’s 2022 Fargo finals victory over current #3 at 126 lbs Moses Mendoza

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board on Friday declined to recommend mercy for a child killer facing a Dec. 19 execution.

The board voted 3-0 against recommending clemency for Kevin Ray Underwood for the 2006 murder of Jamie Rose Bolin, 10, in Purcell. 

One member was absent. Another post is vacant due to a resignation.

“Although I do not want to die, I recognize that I deserve to die for what I did,” Underwood said via video conference. “If my death could change what I did, I would gladly die.”
Underwood confessed to suffocating Bolin, his neighbor. Her partially decapitated body was found in a plastic tub in his apartment. He had planned to rape her and cannibalize the body, according to public documents.

Underwood apologized to Bolin’s family, his family and those in the hearing room who had to listen to the details of the crime.

Underwood said he has blocked out most of his memory of that day.

“But when I do think about it, it causes me great pain,” Underwood said. “I cannot believe that I did those things.”

Underwood’s attorney, Brendan Van Winkle, said his client suffered from several serious mental health issues and was abused and bullied as a child.

Another Underwood attorney, Emma Rolls, read a statement from his mental health expert Kim Spence. Spence said Underwood was obsessed with pornography and sexual gratification. He never got treatment for his disorders, Spence said.

“With the proper care, Kevin could have made it,” Van Winkle said.

Senior Assistant Attorney General Aspen Layman said the crime was one of the most “notorious and depraved” in state history.

Bolin was chosen because she was small, defenseless and easy prey, Layman said.

Bolin was a child who loved spaghetti, her Girl Scout troop and the color green, Layman said.

Portions of Underwood’s detailed confession were played for the panel in which he described the details of the murder and Bolin’s last moments alive.

Underwood is a skilled manipulator who showed no mercy to Bolin as she apologized and begged to be freed, Layman said.

Assistant Attorney General Sheri Johnson said Underwood was far from being severely mentally ill. He came from a two-parent home where his needs were met and there was no abuse, she said.

“Had he not been caught, he would have done it again,” Layman said.

Had the board recommended clemency, Gov. Kevin Stitt would have made the final decision.

“I am pleased the board voted to deny clemency for this deeply evil monster and ensured that justice will be delivered for Jamie Rose Bolin,” said Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond. “Jamie’s family has waited 18 excruciating years for justice that will finally be carried out when this murderer is executed.”

Underwood’s hearing had been twice delayed.

His attorneys waged an unsuccessful legal battle seeking to have all five members of the board hear his clemency request.