OG&E crews restored power to 27,000 customers in three days following severe weather and tornadoes in western Arkansas in May. Since the historic October 2020 ice storm impacted central Oklahoma, OG&E has spent the past year strengthening the electric infrastructure throughout its service area.

OKLAHOMA CITY (November 15, 2021) - Since the historic October 2020 ice storm impacted central Oklahoma, OG&E has been strengthening electric infrastructure throughout its service area, which includes 267 cities and towns across Oklahoma as well as the Ft. Smith area in Arkansas. The effort included extensive repairs following a weather event that resulted in 40% more damage to service lines in customer backyards than a typical Oklahoma ice storm. Since October 2020, OG&E has:

• Trimmed or removed approximately 121,000 trees
• Replaced nearly 9,000 poles and 4,000 transformers
• Changed out more than 500 miles of overhead and underground power lines

In addition to the repairs, the electric utility is also performing ongoing, preemptive grid enhancement work, such as upgrading and installing new equipment on overhead and underground power lines to reduce outages caused by wildlife, severe weather and equipment failures. These enhancements also include adding more smart grid automation technology that senses and isolates disruptions on the system and reroutes power for as many customers as possible to minimize the impact of outages.

“Investments in the grid are designed to reduce outage frequencies and durations in good weather and bad,” said Andrea Dennis, OG&E Vice President of Transmission and Distribution Operations. “We’ve already seen great results in Arkansas where we first piloted our grid enhancement program in 2018. Our goal is always to provide reliable power to all customers every day without interruption, and to restore any interruptions as quickly and safely as possible.”

On May 3, severe storms impacted the Fort Smith area, producing three EF-1 tornados and damaging homes and businesses. While the storm left 27,000 OG&E customers without power, a new report shows recent grid improvements and proactive maintenance measures saved an additional 20,000 customers from sustained outages.

“These are exactly the results we expected and hoped to see from strengthening the grid,” Dennis said. “During Arkansas’ May storms, the grid technology isolated and restored power where possible, preventing several sections from undergoing circuit-wide, sustained outages. Our report showed that the grid enhancement investments resulted in reducing the restoration process was by an estimated 1 to 1.5 days.”

Dennis noted that overall, Arkansas customers are experiencing a 40% reduction in number of service interruptions and 33% decrease in outage duration as a result of the grid investment.

OG&E is making similar grid upgrades in Oklahoma, so those customers will begin to see similar results. Grid investments help meet the needs of customers today and in the future, while allowing OG&E to maintain highly affordable rates.

To view OG&E grid improvements in your area, visit oge.com/GridEnhancement.

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 871,000 customers. OG&E has 7,081 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 oge.com or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.