A proposal from the company that provides electrical services to the Seminole area to spread out recovery fuel costs related to February’s extreme winter weather was approved last week by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC).

In a hearing held Thursday, March 18, the OCC approved a plan agreed to by OG&E, the Oklahoma Attorney General and others to defer costs. A timeline for when recovery costs start and over what timeframe has not yet been established.

“In the aftermath of February’s extreme cold, you may be wondering how the weather could affect your utility bill,” OG&E officials stated in a press release.

“During this weather event, our focus was on limiting the effects of temporary service interruptions and ensuring you had the power you needed to keep your families warm. We spent about $1 billion on natural gas to ensure we met the increased demand. That’s more than we spent on fuel for all of 2020,” the company said.

OG&E said in order to minimize the impact to customers, it is working with the OCC to spread the recovery of these fuel costs over 10 years. This is a two-step approach:

Step 1: OG&E is asking the OCC to allow them to recover a portion of the fuel costs beginning in April.

Step 2: OG&E is asking the OCC to approve spreading the remainder of the associated fuel costs over 10 years, beginning in 2022.

If approved, the average residential customer can expect to see a fuel cost-related increase of less than 10%.

Separate from fuel costs, customers may also see a higher February bill if more electricity was used during the intense cold than normal. If customers took conservation measures, like lowering their thermostat, they may not see much of an increase.