OG&E Announces Federal Grant to Fund Statewide Grid Improvements

The Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company announced it secured a $50 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to fund electric grid improvements in the state. The grant will be matched dollar for dollar by OG&E, totaling an investment of $100 million.

"The benefits will basically be reliability and resiliency," said Vice President of Utility Operations Donnie Jones.

The announcement came a week before the three-year anniversary of a significant ice storm that left many without power in the Oklahoma City metro. Bill Bryant said he was without power for nearly two weeks. "Everything was caked with ice by the 27th," he said.

Bryant said he's encouraged by the news from OG&E. Despite the October 2020 freeze, he said he hasn't encountered many other significant power outages. But, the possibilities of Oklahoma weather leave him wondering.

And according to Jones, the grid improvements will specifically reduce the negative impacts of weather-related events. "So instead of there being large outages across a circuit, we will isolate those outages to minimize the impact to our customers," Jones said.

Jones also said that each customer can expect 23 fewer hours of outages per year once the improvements have been made. He estimates it could be 5 years before the project is completed.

More than 100 cities and towns will benefit from the improvement, including Oklahoma City, and tribal territory.