PSO Battery Sales Reference

Tulsa Metro, Southeastern Oklahoma & Lawton · Q3 2026 · Internal Use Only

What kind of market this is

• Their midday solar legally cannot pay their 5 o'clock bill — PSO nets each price window separately → the battery is the only thing that carries their own power across that line
• Their exports earn wholesale pennies while evening power costs ~29 cents all-in → the battery converts penny exports into full-price avoided purchases
• Six separate riders stack almost 4.4 cents onto every delivered kWh — including a line item still paying for Winter Storm Uri — and today's netting rules aren't guaranteed forever → self-consumption is the one thing the utility can't reprice — the battery shrinks the kWh every current and future rule applies to
• Nobody's standing behind their system → Top Tier takes it over: fresh 10-year workmanship warranty after inspection, Align Solar Protection standard, one number to call

PART A — The Pitch (Problem → Solution → Urgency → Close)

The Problem

Your panels can't pay your 5 o'clock bill. PSO's net energy billing rules don't just require solar customers onto the Time of Day rate — they net each price window separately. Generation inside the 2–7 PM window offsets 2–7 PM usage; generation outside it offsets only the cheap hours. Your customer's panels do their best work at noon, in the 5-cent window, and fade exactly as the 25-cent window opens — and PSO's billing never lets the noon power touch the 5 o'clock bill. It exports at a wholesale rate instead, for pennies.

Rep layer: This is the sharpest pain lead in the whole book, and almost no PSO solar customer knows it. Draw three boxes: NOON POWER → cheap window or pennies export. EVENING USAGE → 25 cents, full price. BATTERY → the only bridge between them. The realization that their own power legally can't cross that line is the appointment.

Your evening power costs almost 29 cents all-in. The Time of Day on-peak rate is 24.85 cents — and then six riders stack nearly 4.4 cents more onto every delivered kWh: fuel, transmission, grid hardening, renewable cost recovery, new generation, and a line item that is still paying off Winter Storm Uri, five years later. All-in, the 2–7 PM window runs about 29 cents against a 9.5-cent off-peak.

Rep layer: The Uri rider is the moment on the bill walk. "See this line? That's February 2021. You're still paying for it." Nothing else makes the rider stack feel real that fast — and every one of these riders is on their own bill with a tariff sheet behind it.

Your rates keep climbing by rider, and today's netting rules aren't guaranteed forever. PSO's newest rider — new dispatchable generation cost recovery — landed in mid-2025 and adds nearly a cent to every kWh, with a permanent rate case behind it still in motion. Riders reset and stack without the customer voting on any of it. Meanwhile, Oklahoma's retail-netting framework — offset up to your consumption, per window — is the favorable version of solar billing, and frameworks like it are being rewritten state by state. And unlike some states, Oklahoma offers no grandfather protection — when rules change here, they change for everyone, including existing solar customers.

Rep layer: Two clocks, both honest. The rider trend is documented on their own bill — you never have to speculate. The honest frame: there is no protected position to win by timing — which is exactly why the battery matters. Rules can be repriced; stored self-consumption can't. Never promise locked terms.

Nobody's standing behind your system. Oklahoma's solar boom produced installers that didn't survive the post-ITC shakeout. An orphaned Tulsa customer has an expired or unenforceable workmanship warranty, an inverter aging into its failure window, and no one to call when it dies or a roof penetration leaks.

Rep layer: Plants the takeover seed — you pick it up in the solution. Ask who installed their system and whether they've ever gotten a callback. The silence is the pitch.

The Solution

The battery carries your own power across the line PSO drew. It charges on midday production that would have exported for pennies and discharges it inside the 2–7 PM window — the one place per-interval netting can never take it. Every shifted kWh avoids a ~29-cent all-in purchase and gives up only the few cents it would have earned leaving the house. Nothing else does this: more panels make more stranded midday power, habit changes don't move dinner to 9 PM, and NEBO doesn't allow a different rate plan.

Rep layer: "PSO built a wall between your cheap hours and your expensive hours. The battery is the only door." One sentence, whole mechanism. And note the fuel rider detail for your own math: fuel charges bill on NET delivered kWh, so shifted power dodges the fuel charge too — the spread is even better than the base rates suggest.

The battery keeps your home running when the grid fails. Tulsa knows: the June 2023 derecho that tore through the metro produced one of the largest outage events in PSO's history, with restorations running the better part of a week in the heat. Ice storms in winter, tornado season every spring. Grid-tied solar shuts off for safety in every one of those outages; solar plus a battery carries refrigeration, well pumps, medical equipment, and AC controls through the restoration.

Rep layer: In Tulsa you don't sell the storm — you ask where they were in June 2023 and listen. Most solar customers have never been told their panels won't run in a blackout; let that land before you fix it.

Your own stored power is the one thing the rules can't reprice. Rates climb by rider and rate case, and the netting rules themselves can be revised — for everyone, existing customers included. A home that stores and self-consumes its own production through the peak window has shrunk the surface area that any future rule or rate change can touch — including the fuel charge, which nets away entirely on shifted power. That's not a locked-in position; it's better — it's independence from the position entirely.

Rep layer: We never claim terms are locked in — Oklahoma has no grandfathering to promise. The pitch is ownership: every kWh the battery moves is a kWh no future Commission order can reprice.

We take it over and stand behind it. Top Tier becomes the single point of contact: a fresh 10-year workmanship and roof-penetration warranty issued at takeover (after inspection), the 5-year Align Solar Protection service contract included standard ($0 deductible, insurance-backed, non-transferable), and manufacturer-warranty coordination going forward. For an orphaned customer with a 25-year asset and no service path, this is real money independent of every other pillar.

Rep layer: Be precise on transfers — workmanship with written consent, Align non-transferable, manufacturer per OEM terms. Never say "everything transfers." Never promise takeover before the inspection clears.

Urgency

The summer clock. PSO's peak window runs June through October — roughly 105 weekdays a year. A system installed after peak season waits most of a year to start earning its arbitrage; every peak season without storage is stranded midday power and 29-cent evenings.

The rider clock. Six riders and counting, the newest less than a year old with a permanent rate case still behind it. The trend is on the customer's own bill, line by line. Today's tariff is the cheapest version of this problem they will ever have.

The rules clock. Oklahoma's netting framework can be revised by Commission order, and there is no grandfather protection — changes here reach existing customers too. That cuts both ways honestly: no deadline to race, and no protected position to wait for. The battery is the hedge that works under today's rules and any future version of them.

The storm clock. June 2023 is recent memory in Tulsa; ice season and tornado season come every year. Resilience installed after the outage protects the next one, not the last one.

What we never do: invent a deadline. There is no expiring rebate in Oklahoma and we don't manufacture one. "There's nothing to wait for" is the true version of urgency here — nothing pending makes this purchase better later, and several real clocks make it worse.

The Close

Step 1 — Their bill, their wall. Pull a summer bill. Show the on-peak line near 25 cents, the off-peak near 5, and the rider lines underneath — pause on the winter storm line. "Your rate has two prices and six extra charges, and here's the part nobody told you: your solar can only pay the cheap side. PSO nets each window separately — your noon power never touches your 5 o'clock bill."

Step 2 — The only door. "Your extra power leaves at pennies. Your evening power comes back at about 29 cents all-in. The battery is the only thing that carries your own power from one side to the other — more panels can't do it, and PSO's rules don't offer a different rate."

Step 3 — The stack, honestly. "The shifting saves a few hundred dollars a year — I'll show you the exact math, summer weekdays only, and I'd rather you check it than take my word. On top of that: your house runs through the next derecho, every new rider hits fewer of your kilowatt-hours, your stored power stays yours no matter how the rules move, and someone finally stands behind your system — with a fresh 10-year workmanship warranty and a 5-year protection contract on the solar included standard. That's the purchase."

Standing Rules (Do NOT Violate)

• ❌ NEVER coach reps to disqualify based on home tenure. Resale story is real — not "walk away."
• ❌ NEVER claim "all warranties transfer." Workmanship: with written consent. Align: non-transferable. Manufacturer: per OEM terms.
• ❌ NEVER fabricate inspection findings.
• ❌ NEVER quote a bill-reduction factor as a guarantee.
• ❌ 85+ confirmation call required. Customer confirms own finances, no POA, sound mind.
• ❌ Financing ends before age 91. 75 → 15-year max. 80 → 10-year max.
• ❌ Honest cancellation window. Overselling = free customer exit + $1K–$1.5K clawback.
• ❌ Certified before selling.
• ❌ NEVER promise takeover before inspection. Top Tier can decline non-compliant systems with written notice within 7 days.
• ❌ NEVER quote a dollar export rate. PSO's avoided energy cost is derived from SPP wholesale market prices and changes monthly. Say "a market rate that has historically run in the low-to-mid single digits" — never a fixed number.
• ❌ NEVER promise a $0 bill. The minimum residual is the $17.00 base service charge, and most homes sit above it. Our projections show a residual bill.
• ❌ NEVER pitch VPP income. PSO has no residential battery VPP and no battery program. Zero dollars in the savings stack. If one ever launches, that's upside we never promised.
• ❌ NEVER claim state or federal incentives. Oklahoma has no state solar or battery incentive, and the federal ITC expired December 31, 2025. The economics stand on their own — say so plainly.
• ❌ NEVER quote winter arbitrage savings. Winter is tiered pricing (7.9/5.3/3.5 cents) with no time-of-use spread. The arbitrage story is a summer story — June through October here — and we say that out loud.
• ❌ NEVER tell a customer their midday solar offsets their peak usage. At PSO it does not — netting is per-interval. This is the single most important mechanical fact in this territory; getting it wrong in either direction (claiming it does, or overclaiming the penalty) breaks trust.
• ❌ NEVER discuss panel additions past the 125% cap without checking headroom. NEBO caps capacity at 125% of the customer's peak demand; oversized systems get defaulted to the QF tariff and lose NEBO billing entirely.
• ❌ NEVER promise locked or grandfathered terms. Oklahoma has no grandfather protection — NEBO can be revised for everyone, existing customers included. The honest pitch is the hedge: stored self-consumption is what the utility can't reprice. And never predict a change — none is pending that we can cite.

Go get the sale. A battery is a strong product — clean energy, independence, backup, long-term savings. A customer who wants one for any honest reason is a good sale. We never walk away over price or low savings — that's the customer's call. Do right by the customer, protect the company, be honest.

PART B — The Deep Reference

1. Orientation

• Utility: Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO, an AEP company) — Tulsa metro, southeastern Oklahoma, and Lawton, ~527,000 customers, OCC-regulated investor-owned utility.
• Market type: Rate-plan-aware TOU-lever with per-interval netting — the strictest netting structure in the book, and the sharpest structural case for storage. Every solar customer is on the Residential Time of Day rate (RSTOD) by rule under NEBO.
• Default config: backup-capable ($18,500 / $23,942 / ~$228); self-consumption ($17,000 / $22,068 / ~$210).

2. How the PSO Bill Works

RSTOD — Residential Time of Day, the rate every PSO solar customer is on:

The rider stack (per kWh, current values):

All-in on-peak: ~29.22¢. All-in off-peak: ~9.48¢. The FCA netting rule is a genuine PSO advantage worth knowing cold: fully offset consumption pays zero fuel charge.

RS — Standard Residential (the pre-solar baseline): $17.00/mo; summer 8.8792¢ first 1,350 kWh / 11.4186¢ additional; winter 7.9241/5.2529/3.5221 tiers; all riders apply. A typical 1,100 kWh summer month runs about $163 all-in — the honest "before solar" anchor for the net-bill-breakdown conversation.

3. NEBO Mechanics — the Rules of the Game

• DG customers must take their standard TOD rate schedule (Large Power & Light excluded from the tariff). The residential landing spot is RSTOD. Assignment is based on the customer's annual billing period before becoming a NEBO customer.
• Netting is per-interval: within the on-peak season, on-peak consumption nets only against on-peak-interval generation, off-peak against off-peak. Midday production cannot offset 2–7 PM usage on the bill.
• Excess within an interval is credited in dollars at the applicable on- or off-peak avoided energy cost — SPP day-ahead market average at PSO's pricing node. Market-derived, changes monthly, no fixed value. Credits pay out at a $100 or 24-month threshold.
• Fuel rider bills on net delivered kWh; all other riders bill on total delivered kWh.
• State framework: retail netting up to consumption with avoided-cost purchase of excess, participation up to 300 kW, sizing to expected on-site use (OCC rules, 17 O.S. § 156 / OAC 165:40:9).
• Eligibility: capacity ≤ 125% of the customer's peak demand and ≤ 300 kW. Over the cap → defaulted to the QF tariff (materially worse). For reference, PSO's QF purchase rates run 5.86¢ firm / 3.98¢ non-firm — that's the neighborhood exports live in.
• No DG-specific monthly fee exists.
• NEBO customers cannot simultaneously take any other generation or co-generation tariff.

4. Rate Reality + The Honest Math

The rider stack is the story, and every line has a docket behind it: new dispatchable generation (the newest rider, with a permanent rate case still in motion), Winter Storm Uri securitization, grid hardening, renewable cost recovery, transmission — plus fuel pass-throughs that move with the gas market. None of it requires the customer's vote and all of it lands per-kWh. The battery doesn't stop any of it — it shrinks the delivered kWh the riders bill against, and shifted power dodges the fuel charge entirely.

• Peak window: ~105 weekdays/year (Jun–Oct minus three holidays) × 5 hours. Winter arbitrage: $0.
• A typical backup battery shifting ~12 usable kWh per peak day at ~25.2¢ net value (29.22¢ all-in avoided minus ~4¢ forgone export) ≈ $315/year. Because the fuel charge nets away on shifted power, this figure is honestly computed at all-in rates — no FCA asterisk needed here, unlike OG&E.
• Typical current bill ~$75/mo for a solar customer on RSTOD; typical post-battery residual ~$49/mo against the $17.00 floor. The pre-solar anchor: ~$163/mo. Customer-facing materials use range framing ("customers with similar systems typically see...").
• The arbitrage alone doesn't pay for the battery. Arbitrage + resilience + rider-and-rules positioning + system rescue is the purchase — and it survives the customer's own math at the kitchen table, which is the point.

5. Incentives & Programs

Oklahoma is a VPP desert: no PSO residential battery VPP, no battery rebate, no OG&E program either, and no Tesla, Enphase, SolarEdge, or FranklinWH VPP operating anywhere in the state. No Oklahoma state solar or battery incentive exists, and the federal ITC expired 12/31/2025. Sales tax applies to the purchase; the solar system's added value is property-tax exempt.

Reps must know this cold because customers read about VPP checks in Texas and rebates elsewhere. The honest answer doubles as the strong answer: nothing in our projection depends on a program that can be cancelled, defunded, or waitlisted — every dollar comes from a tariff structure the customer is already on. If a VPP or battery program ever launches in this territory, enrolled hardware is ready for it, and it's upside we never priced in or promised.

6. System Rescue Value — The System Takeover

This applies to any customer with existing solar — and it's identical across every Top Tier market. These are takeover facts, not market-specific.

The Orphaned Solar Customer Problem. Many solar customers installed during the 2019–2024 growth years and now face:

• An original installer that's gone out of business, been acquired, or stopped servicing residential (especially common after the federal tax credit expired Dec 2025)
• A 10-year workmanship warranty that's unenforceable (installer is gone)
• An inverter approaching or past typical failure windows
• No service relationship, and most companies refuse to service systems they didn't install

The Inverter Failure Reality. Inverters are the weakest link. Panels last 25–30 years; the inverter fails much sooner.

• SolarEdge string inverters: 8–15 years (12-yr standard warranty)
• Enphase microinverters: 10–20 years (25-yr warranty)
• Industry-wide: 70–90% of systems experience inverter failure within the panel lifespan
• When it fails on an orphaned system: production stops, bills jump to full retail, most providers won't quote it, out-of-pocket replacement is $3,500–5,000, and the customer is down 4–8 weeks.

What Top Tier's takeover provides (formalized through a Service Warranty Agreement with a brand-new 10-year Limited Workmanship and Roof Penetration Warranty):

• A new 10-year Top Tier workmanship warranty (regardless of system age)
• Manufacturer warranty claim handling (Top Tier chases the claim + labor, not the customer)
• Inverter replacement coverage when it fails within manufacturer warranty (customer pays nothing for the work)
• Single point of contact; monitoring setup help; performance verification at inspection

The $11K System Takeover Bundle (the exact 5-tile bundle on the proposal):

How to use it: "On top of the bill math, you're picking up over $11K of bundled services that aren't sold separately. If your inverter fails in year 12, the warranty handling alone is worth a few hundred; the replacement coordination saves $3–5K; the Align contract is $1,500 you'd otherwise pay. It adds up."

Align Solar Protection — the terms (get these right):

• 5-year term, $0 deductible, insurance-backed by American Bankers Insurance Company of Florida, non-transferable to subsequent owners.
• Covers: mechanical breakdown of existing PV (panels, inverters/optimizers, racking) — parts, labor, service calls.
• Does NOT cover: the new battery (own warranty), wear-and-tear, weather/hail, pre-existing conditions, roof issues.
• Age limits: panels/microinverters under 15 years; string/central inverters under 7 years. Not every system fully qualifies — disclose at inspection.
• It's ONE of three layers: (1) equipment manufacturer warranties, (2) Top Tier's 10-yr workmanship, (3) the 5-yr Align contract. Never call it "full coverage."
• NEVER say: "Everything's covered" / "never worry again" / "Align is your full coverage" / "you can extend beyond 5 years" / "Align transfers when you sell."

Quantifying the rescue value:

This is independent of bill savings — the rescue alone can be worth $4,000–7,500.

Why PSO-territory customers especially benefit: boom-era systems are aging into the inverter failure window, often past (or orphaned from) their original workmanship warranties; the federal ITC is gone, so keeping the existing system working matters more than ever; and the post-ITC installer shakeout left real numbers of Tulsa-area homeowners with no one to call.

7. Outage Reality — Oklahoma's Storm Calendar

June 2023 derecho: one of the largest outage events in PSO history, with Tulsa-metro restorations running the better part of a week in summer heat. Ice storms in winter; tornado season every spring — this is the heart of tornado alley. Grid-tied solar shuts off for safety in every one of these — panels on the roof, no power in the house. Solar plus battery carries refrigeration, well pumps, medical equipment, and AC controls through the restoration, and unlike a generator it refuels itself from the roof every morning of a multi-day event.

8. Hidden Costs Avoided / What You Own vs What You Rent

(No existing drafted content for this section in the PSO guide.)

9. Battery Products

• Backup config (the point — this is a storm state): Tesla Powerwall 3 (13.5 kWh; Redline: $20,500), FranklinWH aPower 2 (15 kWh; Redline: $20,500). Not compatible with HDM.

• Self-consumption config: Enphase IQ 5P (10 kWh; Redline: $15,500 SC / $17,600 BU), SolarEdge Home Battery (9.7 kWh usable; Redline: $14,500 SC / $16,000 BU), SolarEdge Nexis (self-consumption only pending crew backup training; Redline: $15,500 SC).

• PSO takeaway: no VPP routes any hardware in Oklahoma — selection is purely about backup depth for derecho, ice, and tornado events, said plainly. Under mandatory TOU with per-interval netting the sizing conversation is spread-capture-driven in summer and resilience-driven year-round. Confirm config in the tool.

• Financing terms vary by lender — price deals through the proposal tool.

10. Objection Handling

"My solar already covers my bill."

"It covers a lot — let's look at a July bill together. PSO nets each price window separately, so your noon power offsets your cheap hours and your evening hours bill at about 29 cents all-in. See the on-peak line? Your panels never touch it — the rules don't let them. The battery is the only thing that carries your own power into that window."

"That per-interval thing can't be right — my installer never mentioned it."

"Most installers don't know it — it's in PSO's net energy billing tariff, and I'll show you the exact language. It's not a reason solar was a mistake; your system still kills the cheap-hour usage and the fuel charge. It's the reason the evening window is still on your bill — and it's exactly the gap storage was built for."

"I'll just wait for better incentives."

"There's nothing to wait for — Oklahoma has no state program and the federal credit ended last year. The savings come from the rate you're already on, today. And the billing rules here aren't locked for anyone — they can change for existing customers too, which is an argument for owning your power, not for waiting. It just means more stranded summers."

"Why not just add more panels?"

"At PSO, new midday panels without storage are born stranded — the netting rules never let noon power pay the evening bill, so extra production mostly exports for pennies. There's also a sizing cap at 125% of your peak demand; past it, PSO moves you to a worse billing arrangement entirely. Storage first, then panels sized with it, inside the cap."

"A generator is cheaper for outages."

"For outages alone, maybe — but a generator sits idle 99% of the year, needs fuel during exactly the emergencies when fuel is scarce, and never lowers a bill. The battery works every summer weekday and then carries you through the outage, silently, on power your roof already made."

"How much will I actually save?"

"I'll show you the real number, not a brochure number. The peak window runs summer weekdays, June through October, so the shifting savings are a few hundred dollars a year — here's the calculation, and because of how PSO's fuel charge works, the shifted power dodges that charge too. On top of that: outage protection, fewer kilowatt-hours for every current and future rider to bill, your stored power staying yours no matter how the rules move, and a service takeover independently worth thousands if your inverter ever fails. I'd rather you buy on the true math."

"My installer said they'd always be there."

"When was the last time they called you back? If they're still around, great — keep their number. If they're not, you have a 25-year asset with no service path, and most companies won't touch another installer's work. We will — we inspect it, take it over, and put a new 10-year workmanship warranty behind it."

11. DO SAY / NEVER SAY

12. Required Disclosures

1. ☐ Savings projections are estimates based on current PSO tariff and rider rates, which change over time; the time-of-use arbitrage benefit applies primarily to summer-season weekdays (June–October).
2. ☐ Excess energy is credited at PSO's avoided energy cost, a market-based rate that varies monthly; no fixed export rate is guaranteed. Credits pay out at a $100 or 24-month threshold.
3. ☐ Under PSO's net energy billing rules, generation offsets consumption within the same pricing interval; generation in one interval does not offset consumption in another.
4. ☐ The minimum monthly bill (base service charge, $17.00) cannot be eliminated by solar or battery.
5. ☐ No utility, state, or federal battery incentive or VPP program currently exists in this territory; none is assumed in projections.
6. ☐ Current net metering rules are subject to change by regulators and the utility; no future policy outcome, favorable or unfavorable, is guaranteed.
7. ☐ System sizing is subject to PSO's NEBO eligibility rules, including a cap of 125% of the customer's peak demand; exceeding it changes the billing arrangement.
8. ☐ System takeover is contingent on passing Top Tier's site inspection; Top Tier may decline non-compliant systems with written notice within 7 days.
9. ☐ The Align Solar Protection contract is non-transferable and does not extend original equipment manufacturers' warranties. Workmanship warranty transfer requires written consent.
10. ☐ Backup power capability depends on selected equipment and configuration; not all home loads may be backed up simultaneously.
11. ☐ Rider charges are set through separate regulatory proceedings and are additional to the base rates shown; rider values change over time.

13. Quick-Reference Numbers (dated — confirm before quoting)

• THE REGISTER: RATE-PLAN-AWARE TOU-LEVER with PER-INTERVAL NETTING — NEBO mandates RSTOD; battery captures the 2–7 PM peak spread; Jun–Oct weekdays only; winter arbitrage $0
• RSTOD on-peak season (Jun–Oct): 24.8475¢ on-peak (2–7 PM weekdays) / 5.1016¢ off-peak; all-in with riders ~29.22¢ / ~9.48¢. Winter tiers: 7.9241¢ / 5.2529¢ / 3.5221¢. Base charge $17.00 = bill floor.
• Riders: FCA 2.1444¢ (bills on NET kWh — nets with generation) + 2.229¢ non-FCA (bill on total kWh). Base spread 19.75¢ (4.87:1); battery solar-shift value ~25.2¢/kWh.
• Peak days ~105/year; winter arbitrage $0. Battery arbitrage ~$315/yr at ~12 kWh shifted per peak day.
• Netting is PER-INTERVAL — midday generation cannot offset 2–7 PM usage.
• Typical solar customer bill ~$75/mo; typical residual ~$49/mo; pre-solar anchor ~$163/mo.
• Exports: avoided cost, market-derived; credits pay at $100 or 24 months — never quote a fixed number.
• Caps: 125% of peak demand; 300 kW; over the cap defaults to QF tariff.
• Incentives: none — no VPP, no state program, no ITC (expired 12/31/2025). Sales tax applies; property-tax exempt.
• System rescue expected value: $4,000–7,500+.
• Default config: backup $18,500 / self-consumption $17,000

14. Sell Hard, Sell Honest

PSO is where the mechanics do the selling — if the rep tells the truth precisely. Per-interval netting is a real, documented, almost-unknown fact, and the rep who explains it accurately owns the customer's trust for the rest of the conversation. The temptation is to round it into "solar doesn't work at PSO" — that's false and it will blow up. Solar works; it's the timing that's walled off, and the battery is the fix for exactly that.

And hold the line on the number. The arbitrage is roughly $315 a year on today's rates — real, provable, bounded to summer-season weekdays — and it does not pay for the battery by itself. Say that before the customer's calculator does. The close is the stack: arbitrage plus outage protection plus rider-and-rules positioning plus a system rescue independently worth thousands. The pre-solar comparison seals it honestly: a Tulsa home without solar pays about $163 a month in summer; this customer's solar already carried them most of the way down, and the battery finishes the job the rate design was built to prevent.

Customer Archetypes

The June 2023 Derecho Veteran. Anywhere in the Tulsa metro, remembers days without power in the June heat, may have priced a generator since. Lead resilience; close on "and it pays you back every summer, which a generator never will."

The Bill-Shocked TOD Customer. Went solar expecting tiny bills, still sees real summer charges, never understood why. The answer is per-interval netting — their noon power never touched their evening bill. Walking them through it is the entire pitch; the battery resolves a mystery they've had since interconnection.

The Oversized-System Owner. Big array, big export credits trickling out at the $100/24-month threshold, disappointed returns. Their stranded midday power is the battery's fuel. Highest arbitrage value in the territory. Verify 125%-cap headroom before any panel-addition talk.

The Orphaned Customer. Installer gone, inverter aging, no service path. Lead with the rescue — for this archetype the takeover is the purchase and the battery is how it happens.

The Rider-Angry Customer. Reads their bill, resents the stack, maybe called PSO about the Uri line. Don't join the resentment — channel it: "you can't vote the riders off the bill, but you can shrink the kilowatt-hours they apply to."

Solar + Battery (New Panels) Angle

Top Tier installs panels, and PSO's rules make pairing non-negotiable: per-interval netting means new midday production without storage is born stranded — it can never touch the evening bill and mostly becomes penny exports. The 125% peak-demand cap is a hard eligibility line — exceed it and the customer defaults to the QF tariff and loses NEBO billing entirely. Pair every addition with storage, size inside the cap, verify headroom against actual peak demand first. Right-sized solar+battery is the best-performing configuration in this territory; oversized solar-only is the worst in the whole book.

Reading the Bill (rep skill)

(1) The on-peak kWh line — near 25 cents; the wall lives here. (2) The off-peak line — show the gap on their own paper. (3) The rider lines — walk them one by one and pause on the winter storm line: "that's February 2021, still on your bill." (4) The fuel line — explain it bills on net kWh, which is why shifted power dodges it. (5) Any export credit — pennies per kWh, paid out slowly at the $100/24-month threshold; do the division in front of them. (6) The base service charge — the honest $17 floor no system removes.

Final Thoughts

PSO is the market where the tariff's fine print is the pitch. Per-interval netting builds a wall between the customer's cheap power and their expensive hours, the rider stack adds a documented line-by-line rate-climb story ending in a charge for a storm five years gone, and the battery is — literally, mechanically — the only door through the wall. No incentive to expire, no program to wait for: a 29-cent evening, penny exports, a derecho the whole metro remembers, and thousands of systems whose installers are gone. Explain the wall precisely, show the bounded math, let the Uri line sell the trend, let the rescue carry the orphaned systems, and let the customer check every number. In this market, the straight version is the strong version.