OG&E is sending workers to Florida after helping Texas
Oklahoma Gas & Electric has planned a twostage deployment to assist Florida Power and Light with restoration efforts related to Hurricane Irma.
Because of OG&E’s expertise in managing large-scale restoration events, the first stage involves a 14-member management team to coordinate a group of 250 linemen and 250 vegetation management personnel. Those 500 workers will be deployed through Florida Power and Light.
OG&E’s initial team leaves Tuesday at 6 a.m.
The second OG&E deployment includes a convoy of 80 lineman and support staff scheduled to leave at 6 a.m. Wednesday for Lake City, Florida. Those line crews leave a day later than the initial team to ensure OG&E resources are not overextended from providing personnel for both Harvey and Irma restoration efforts.
Crews working Harvey restoration are expected home Thursday evening. An additional 10-member logistics team also is on standby and ready to deploy if needed.
Hurricane Irma has caused a record number of power outages. As of Monday morning, 6.5 million Floridians were affected by outages. The electric power industry is mounting a nationwide response that OG&E said is likely to be one of the largest industry restoration efforts in U.S. history.
OG&E is a member of the Midwest Mutual Assistance and Southeast Electrical Exchange, which dispatches mutual assistance teams in cases of widespread outages. Companies impacted by major outage events increase the size of their workforce by utilizing (and paying) restoration workers from other companies in unaffected areas.