OG&E Requests 2012 Rate Increase

OG&E announced today that it will seek an annual rate increase of approximately $73 million that if approved would be effective in 2012. In its filing at the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, the company said it will request approval to recover costs for nearly $500 million in new investments made on behalf of its customers during the previous two-and-a-half years. "We're putting dollars to good use for customers," said Jesse Langston, OG&E's vice president of utility commercial operations. "We've made prudent investments in system expansion and reliability that have improved the quality of our service, provided customers with tools and information to better manage their energy use and earned best-in-class distinction for customer satisfaction." OG&E's request would increase the average residential customer's monthly bill by about $6.50 per month. Larger commercial and industrial electric customers also would see increases, while schools and small businesses would see little to no increase, which will better align rates with the actual cost to serve customers. "Before we ask customers to pay more, we ensure that our own performance is good, and that we are effectively managing our costs," Langston said. "Our operating costs, for example, are well below the national average. Recently, we've removed more than $20 million from our pension and benefits costs, guaranteed customer savings in excess of an additional $20 million through our smart grid efforts and provided several million dollars in annual fuel savings by building our wind generation portfolio. These efforts have helped offset the impact of this filing as well as future costs." A ruling in the case is not expected until later this year or early 2012. If approved by the Commission, new rates would be expected to go into effect during the first quarter of 2012. OG&E, a subsidiary of Oklahoma City-based OGE Energy Corp OGE, serves nearly 790,000 electric customers in Oklahoma and western Arkansas.