Bills to increase for OG&E customers

Comments Comment on this article17

By Jack Money
Published: August 22, 2008

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission this morning approved increases in Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co. customers' utility bills for storm-related repairs and costs related to its scrapped plans for a new coal-fired power plant in northern Oklahoma.

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For an average residential customer, bills will be increased about 64 cents a month, beginning in September, to recover ice-storm related repair costs. Larger customers will pay more.

The additional amount will be added to their bills for five years, state and utility officials said. The increase will recover $32 million in costs for the utility.

For an average residential customer, bills will be increased an additional 7 cents a month, beginning in 2010, to recover design costs the utility paid for a planned coal-fired power plant at Red Rock. Larger customers will pay more. The additional amount will be added to their bills for 27 years, state and utility officials said. The increase will recover $7 million out of $14 million the utility says it spent on the work.


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More increases. Incredible. I found a good site to give me help with my bills. Gov't programs and other advise.
http://www.helppayingutilitybills.com
John, Lancaster - Aug 23, 2008 1:18 PM
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Sure makes a lot of sense to NOT cut back branches, especially in a state that woes itself as being prone to ice storms....I wonder if the legislature had any say in it? Sounds about right if they did....
paul, yukon - Aug 23, 2008 7:44 AM
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The rate increase is a joke. Several years ago OG&E made a conscious decision to not trim any of the trees surrounding their power lines as a cost saving measure. Now they want us to pay for the costs associated with restoring the network after the ice storm to compensate them for their poor decision.
Franklin, Yukon - Aug 22, 2008 8:58 PM
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Switching over to CFLs (compact florescent lamps) and updating the insulation/windows. So far I've been able to shave off usage here and there and keep the bills about the same even with rate increases. If I ever built a house it would be one that did not rely on the grid.
Doug, Midwest City - Aug 22, 2008 7:04 PM
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Thank you for deleting my energy message to my fellow americans. Is the petroleum industry worried about the truth I'm telling?
mark, oklahoma city - Aug 22, 2008 3:43 PM
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We are wasting our time fighting OG&E, Cox Communications, Bell Telephone, AT&T and the Oklahoma State Legislature. They are too big to listen to us little people. Sad to say. Set back, grin, enjoy it, and hope it lubricated.
Lawrence, Guthrie - Aug 22, 2008 3:38 PM
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to everyone, i apologize. if any of you ever see a comment i make that is offensive or crude or talks about drugs, please click on 'report offensive langauge' to remove it. try to get the point across to the oklahoman that i am not welcome here. tell everyone you see on here, if they see me comment, to ban it. thanks
Pizzo, Oklahoma - Aug 22, 2008 3:23 PM
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Is sad that we get nickeled and dimed everytime we turn around!
Ashley, oklahoma city - Aug 22, 2008 4:48 PM
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oh, people should not complain about the increase when were such a wasteful nation...lol Go home and look at how many t.v's you have on throughout the house, how many ceiling fans you have running with your central air on 65 degrees and the fan and window unit you have running in your bedroom for added comfort while you sleep. Not to mention the 5 different game consoles your kids play all day long...lol the price you pay for comfort huh?
Cassie, Moore - Aug 22, 2008 2:29 PM
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Jack, I think the problem is, you can't keep throwing money at a problem and expect to fix it. I really have no idea of OG&E's management or profits... but I would imagine that they are not running the company to it's potential. If they are trimming back on things like preventative maintenance and people are only getting 1% raises, there is a problem, and it's not that they need to raise rates. Streamline the business, trim out excess costs and manage the business more efficiently. This whole thing of us paying 7 million for plans on a failed power plant is a prime example. Too much waste going on in a lot of businesses and government.
Jess, Warr Acres - Aug 22, 2008 2:27 PM
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That's it...! I'm not taking it anymore...! Cable ticked me off, I dropped them and switched to dish. Phone company kept riping me off, I dropped them and I'm now cell phone only. Kiss off, OG&E, I dropping you and switching to.... uh.....wait... aw, crap.
K.L., warr acres - Aug 22, 2008 1:08 PM
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C in Choctaw, you need not speak on speculation. As an employee I can tell you we have cut back to the point we are understaffed in many areas. Most every person I know only received maybe a 1% raise and there are a few in company that received 3%. This company is a great company, and is regulated by the state commission. They are not taking any monies and giving it to the employees! I have seen first hand the cut backs on preventative maintence. I can see the problems with out facilities that are not getting repaired because of the cutbacks. So, say what you want but we are trying to stay afloat like many others. The cost of energy has got us all on tight budgets.
JACK, OKLAHOMA CITY - Aug 22, 2008 1:05 PM
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put the blame where it really is, the Corporation Com.Can anyone really remember any one of them saying no?It seems like every election they keep getting voted back in.I say vote them out!!!
jim, Oklahoma City - Aug 22, 2008 12:41 PM
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Did I understand right that part of the reason we are being shafted for more money is they did NOT build a coal fired power plant? I guess all other sectors of the energy industry are just jealous of the oil industry's record profits of the last few years. Obviously the local natural gas companies are just barely scraping by like the rest of us...
Kevin, Oklahoma City - Aug 22, 2008 12:08 PM
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I would just like to get a cost of living raise EVERYTIME one of our utilities or other business raises their rates. I once was middle class, now thre is no middle class. You either have way more money than you can handle or your poor. I do belive by the end of the year I will be "dirt" poor. OG&E and many other compaines tell us this is for one thing when in reality that is their way of getting the money for something else such as pay raises for their own emplyees and themselves.
C, choctaw - Aug 22, 2008 11:28 AM
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On 2-2009, OG&E will loose $150,000 per month in billing when 10 full power television stations turn off their analogue transmitters. They have had the luxury of extra billings on the current digital transmitters but they use less energy than the older analogue units. (Be sure to get your $40 coupon toward a dtv converter. And I get another dtv-2009 credit.) Personally, this has hurt me as my landlord went up $25 on rent just for electric costs. But I am a bit displeased because I have an extremely efficient unit that draws less than 20 amps. Other people in the complex have new units that draw significantly more energy. They went up on rents for everybody equally. Its like I am paying for those new much larger units who are responsible for most of the electricity usage. I would like them to go to metering but it won't happen unless someone buys the property.
Sparky (Mark), Oklahoma City - Aug 22, 2008 11:08 AM
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Earlier this week I downloaded my electrical usage records from the OG&E website. Their bar graph shows that I used more energy this past month than the same month a year ago, though in actuality I used 200 kwts less this July/Aug. period than last year, though my bill was about $20 higher. The bar graph specifically says "usage", not cost. How deceiving.
Chris, Oklahoma City - Aug 22, 2008 10:54 AM
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