Wind hampers power restoration, work will continue on Monday

Winds topping 20 mph on Sunday hampered efforts by OG&E to finish power restoration for thousands who lost power when the metro was hit by ice storms two weeks ago.

In its latest report Sunday, the utility estimated it had cut the remaining number of customers without power in half to about 10,000.

Brian Al ford, OG& E spokesman, said the utility is hoping to finish the job on Monday and is aware of forecasts of incoming storms Monday evening through Tuesday.

“While we had hoped to wrap up restoration (Sunday), the winds have delayed our efforts by causing additional outages,”

Alford said. “We're continuing to watch Monday night's weather as it is forecast to be moderate to severe in some parts of the state. These storms may cause additional outages into Tuesday.”

The ice storms hit in three waves Oct .26 through Oct. 28, mangling trees and power lines and leaving more than 445,000, half of OG&E's statewide customers, without power. The utility dealt with 798,000 total outages when including customers who lost power multiple times.

Thousands of line crews were called in from across the country to help in restoration efforts.

“Our restoration workforce is flooding those areas with the largest number of remaining outages,” Alford said. “Customers are asked not to approach crews and utility vehicles in their neighborhood. Doing so only delays the restoration process and could jeopardize the safety of customers and crews.”

OG&E reported distributing more than 5,000 meter bases and stocking another 5,000 for electricians who need to make repairs for customers who need to address damage on their side of the power lines.

“Customers should make sure their home is ready to receive power,” Alford said. “If the weather head, service cable or meter socket is damaged, customers will need to contact a certified electrician to make necessary repairs and once repairs are made, call OG&E customer service to request service reconnect.”