OGE Energy Corp. posts a ‘solid’ second quarter
Natural gas-fired turbines operating at Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co.’s Mustang Energy Center have answered about 1,200 dispatched calls to generate power in the six months they’ve been online.
Sean Trauschke, OGE Energy Corp.’s chairman, president and CEO, said Thursday he had expected them to play an important role in supporting the electrical needs of OG&E customers and other consumers who are served by the Southwest Power Pool.
But their usage surpassed expectations, he said, noting it demonstrates the value the seven units have brought to the utility’s customers and the regional power market.
“We knew that those units were going to get called on a lot,” Trauschke said, “because we didn’t have that technology on our system, where you could bring 462 megawatts of power online in under 10 minutes.”
He observed that capability is beneficial in a situation where power generation is stranded because of a lost line or because customer demand suddenly jumps.
“That ability to respond to changing dynamics is incredibly valuable.”
Trauschke mentioned the natural gas-fired facility in Thursday’s call with analysts after OGE Energy, the parent company of OG&E, posted its earnings for the second quarter of 2018.
“Our core is solid, and we have a lot of momentum,” he told them. “Our employees are doing a great job and we’re effectively executing on our plans across every area of the company.”
OGE’s net income for the second quarter of 2018 was about $111 million, compared to about $105 million during the same period the year before.
Officials said the result equated to per-share earnings of 55 cents, up
3 cents, in a year-overyear comparison.
Achievements, improvements
Other notable achievements made by the company that he mentioned to analysts on Thursday included a 15 percent improvement (secondquarter 2017 compared to this year’s period) in transmission and distribution reliability.
Plus, he highlighted $5.6 billion in investments made across the company since 2011, with more than $1 billion of that covering various environmental related upgrades, including:
• The installation of two scrubbers for coalfired generating trains at the Sooner generating station near Red Rock.
• The installation of the modern natural gas-fired generators at generating stations other than the Mustang Energy Center to lower nitrogen oxide emissions.
• The conversion of two powertrains at its Muskogee generating station from coal to natural gas.
• The installation of five activated carbon injection units at its coal facilities.
The utility also installed 126 miles of transmission line from northwest Oklahoma to the Oklahoma City area.
All of these were accomplished without raising rates on the utility’s residential customers, he said.
Officials said that OG&E, a regulated electric utility, contributed earnings of 46 cents per share to the second quarter results, while OGE Energy Holdings, primarily natural gas midstream operations associated with OGE Energy’s part ownership in Enable Midstream Partners, contributed 11 cents per share.
The parent company’s holding company, meanwhile, posted a loss of 2 cents per share for the quarter. In the second quarter of 2017, it had broken even, company officials said.
Trauschke said the utility’s job has changed from just ensuring there is power when a light switch is flipped to meeting all kinds of customer expectations, ranging from taking advantage of cost savings offered through the SmartHours program to resiliency issues.
“The company is focusing on what it can control and preparing for what it can’t. It is doing great,” Trauschke said, adding, “I would argue it has never done better.”