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HEATHER AVEY Reporter Guymon Daily Herald
HEATHER AVEY/Guymon Daily Herald
Candidate for the Corporation Commission Dana Murphy
Deep-rooted and a fifth generation Oklahoman, Dana Murphy, is running for a seat on the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. When asked what her platform was Murphy responded, that energy is going to be on the forefront of our lives from this point on and the Commission will be the ones to make the decision on how to handle that. Her slogan is E-cubed- Energy, Experience, Excellence. That is the best way to describe her because if you want someone with energy to get the job done, someone with experience to do the job best and she looks at it as excellence, not because we should do it but because we can. "I think fundamentally, people need to understand that no matter what the fuel source is there are plus and minuses where you either have environmental or you have cost issues. Wind power is wonderful, a renewable power that we can use to supplement our power, but it cannot provide base load capacity," Murphy said. There are so many positives to developing the wind farms in this area, if you look at the construction, helping the landowners, bringing in jobs and helping school, Murphy says. With the downside being the visual aspects and we will have to get along with fellow land owners, she added. Demand side management is where the commission will put some laws in place to help conserve and become more energy efficient, this is something that the commission is looking at for the future.Murphy says she feels that Oklahoma is behind the curve a little bit and that we need to move on into developing the wind power. "I think that this community sees that this is something that will really help the state and this area. And I felt an overwhelming consensus for moving forward and getting this done," Murphy said. "If we want to keep our rural way of life, we have to work at it. But if you look at the Corporation Commission right now, there is no Corporation Commissioner that has a rural background of any kind. And I think that it is important for a state-wide office to have somebody who has a perspective on rural areas." "The main reason I am running is it is just about giving back to my state. All my education, all of my experience and the greatest things in my life have all happened right here in Oklahoma. So to me it is really about moving Oklahoma into a great place for the next 100 years." Believing that this is what is the right move for her, Murphy is leaving a very successful law practice to step up and do what she believes is right. Murphy was raised within a family committed to agriculture and the petroleum industry and lives in Edmond where she owns and operates an oil and gas legal practice. Murphy garnered 41 percent of the primary vote and raised over $400,000 in her first bid for the office. In 2003, Dana returned to private law practice with an emphasis in title, regulatory practice and oil and gas litigation. The primary election will be held on July 29 and then will be on the presidential ballot on the second Tuesday in November.
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