TUCSON, Ariz. (Jan. 9, 2019) — The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) today presented OG&E with two of the association’s Emergency Recovery Awards for outstanding power restoration efforts in May and in June after flooding in Oklahoma and in Arkansas, and after severe storms hit Oklahoma in August.

The Emergency Recovery Award is given to select EEI member companies to recognize their extraordinary efforts to restore power to customers after service disruptions caused by severe weather conditions or other natural events. The winners are chosen by a panel of judges following an international nomination process. OG&E received the awards during EEI’s Winter Board and Chief Executives Meeting in Tucson, Arizona.

After a wave of storms brought intense wind gusts and tornadoes in May and in June, Oklahoma and Arkansas experienced historical flooding, resulting in 187,474 outages in OG&E’s service territory. Floodwaters up to 46 feet overtook three substations, cut off access to damaged equipment and turned OG&E’s Muskogee Power Plant into an island. Due to their tireless work, crews restored service to 100 percent of customers within an average of four days after each storm, dedicating 34,496 man-hours to the recovery.

In August, another severe storm produced flash-flooding and damaging winds in Central Oklahoma, resulting in 162,020 outages in OG&E’s service territory - the most that the Oklahoma City metro area had seen since 2013. Within four days of the storm, crews restored service to 100 percent of customers, dedicating 46,144 man-hours to the recovery.

“We applaud our employees for their outstanding work and dedication,” said Jean Leger, OG&E Senior Vice President Utility Operations. “Time and again our employees continue to demonstrate their commitment to restoring power for our customers as safely and quickly as possible.”

This marks the 16th time since 1999 that OG&E has won the highest national distinction for emergency recovery from EEI – eight times for major storms affecting the OG&E system and eight times for assisting other companies.

“OG&E’s work to restore service safely and quickly to customers, often in dangerous conditions, makes them deserving of this award,” said EEI President Tom Kuhn. “Their efforts exemplify the high standards our industry seeks to uphold, and I applaud their commitment to their customers.”

About OG&E

Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of OGE Energy Corp. (NYSE: OGE), is Oklahoma’s largest electric utility. For more than a century, we have provided customers in Oklahoma and western Arkansas the safe, reliable electricity needed to power their businesses and homes at rates below the national average. Our employees are committed to generating and delivering electricity, protecting the environment and providing excellent service to our 852,000 customers. OG&E has 7,144 MW of electric generation capacity fueled by low-sulfur coal, natural gas, wind and solar. OG&E employees live, work and volunteer in the communities we serve. For more information about OG&E, visit our website at http://www.oge.com or follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ogepower and Twitter: @OGandE.

About EEI

EEI is the association that represents all U.S. investor-owned electric companies. Our members provide electricity for more than 220 million Americans and operate in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. As a whole, the electric power industry supports more than 7 million jobs in communities across the United States. In addition to our U.S. members, EEI has more than 65 international electric companies, with operations in more than 90 countries, as International Members, and hundreds of industry suppliers and related organizations as Associate Members.