OG&E Shares Winter Readiness And Power Outage Tips

As Oklahoma braces for another cold snap, Carson Cunningham from OG&E shares insights on how the company prepares for winter weather, steps customers can take to stay safe and efficient, and the infrastructure investments that ensure reliable service during extreme conditions.

Q: How is OG&E preparing for the upcoming cold snap?

Cunningham: "What we do as a company is we have on staff, meteorologists that keep us up to date with the latest news in terms of how cold it's going to be and if there's going to be precipitation we need to be concerned with. We winterize our power plants essentially by November 1st. We are done with that process, which enables our power plants to run a complete capacity and really withstand any cold snaps, any, any really cold temperatures that should come our way."

Q: What should customers do if they experience a power outage?

Cunningham: "We encourage every customer who's without power to contact us. Let us know. That certainly helps us throughout the process and one of the number one ways people in 2025 stay up to date is text message. If you're signed up for my OG alerts, as soon as there's an outage, you'll be notified."

Q: What investments has the company made to improve reliability?

Cunningham: "Our new technology we've made investments in allows us to quickly, automatically reroute some of that power to withstand those heavy loads, those heavy demand hours when temperatures are near freezing or below.

Q: What at-home tips can help customers maximize energy efficiency?

Cunningham:

Drapes:

"One of the number one ways is drapes. Open them in the morning, let that sun rise kind of pour into those windows can give you some natural heat. Then at night, it's the opposite. Close those drapes, keep that cold touch from the windows at bay."

LED Light Bulbs:

"They're they're cheaper. They're more energy efficient. They can they provide, I think, up to 80% less energy usage. That's that goes a long way."

Thermostat Settings:

"We encourage our customers to lower the thermostat as low as they're comfortable with. Every single degree can lower your energy costs up to 3%"

Fans:

"Use of fans, like bathroom fans, things like that. They those can really take a toll on the warm air that's already in your home, so use those very efficiently as well."

Q: Are there safety concerns with space heaters or generators?

Cunningham: "I would use those sparingly. And then, of course, you don't want to overload outlets that is a that is a very big concern safety wise and sometimes people may want to bring in power generators into their home. We do not recommend that."

Q: What energy efficiency programs do you offer?

Cunningham: "We have energy efficiency programs like, our weatherization service. You can give us a call, you can receive an at, no cost value, to have, a crew come to your home and weatherize your home, see where those inefficiencies are, where that hot air may be leaking from your home that you're not even aware of. We also have some billing options people can take advantage of as well."

Q: Any final advice?

Cunningham: "You need to have a plan in place, so we encourage people to take those extra steps. Have those emergency kits ready should you have to get in the car and go somewhere. you don't want to be stranded out in the cold."