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| 8-K - OGANDE8K060110 - OKLAHOMA GAS & ELECTRIC CO | ogande8k060110.htm |
Exhibit
99.01
OG&E
Announces Smart Grid Agreements
Cost
recovery in Oklahoma, federal stimulus grant are keys to continuing
deployment
OKLAHOMA
CITY – OG&E today announced two key agreements related to the company’s
plans to deploy a smart grid across its system during the next few
years:
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A
stipulated agreement with all the parties to its application at the
Oklahoma Corporation Commission that, if approved by the Commission, would
authorize the company to spend up to $366.4 million on smart grid
deployment by the end of 2012.
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An
agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy which finalizes the process
for receiving $130 million in stimulus funding for smart grid
implementation; receipt of the stimulus funding is a condition of the
stipulated agreement and will reduce the cost of deployment by more than
one-third.
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“These
two agreements are important steps for the rollout of one of the most
comprehensive smart grid programs in the nation,” said Pete Delaney, chairman,
president and CEO of OGE Energy Corp. (NYSE: OGE), parent company of OG&E.
“The smart grid program as we’ve designed it is an essential component in our
strategy to directly engage our electric customers in an effort to help them
manage energy consumption. Together, we believe we can defer the need for us to
add to our total net generating capacity until after
2020.”
OG&E
also announced today it has successfully completed the installation of more than
42,000 smart meters in Norman, Okla., and the next step is for smart grid crews
to move on to Moore and south Oklahoma City. The Norman project was approved as
part of OG&E’s 2009 Oklahoma rate case and its implementation, on time and
on budget, has been closely watched by all parties to the agreements announced
today.
Commission
approval of the settlement agreement would add $1.57 to the average residential
customer’s monthly electric bill. In addition to deferring the need for new
generation, OG&E projects smart grid deployment will benefit customers by
significantly lowering operational costs.
The
Department of Energy accepted OG&E’s application in October – one of only
100 selected nationwide – to negotiate for funding to help cover the cost of the
company’s smart grid program. The grant will allow OG&E to
accelerate deployment of smart grid technology across its 30,000-square mile
territory in Oklahoma and western Arkansas while reducing the cost for
customers.
OG&E
serves more than 779,000 customers in a service territory spanning 30,000 square
miles in Oklahoma and western Arkansas. OGE Energy also is the parent company of
Enogex LLC, a midstream natural gas pipeline business with principal operations
in Oklahoma.