SAPULPA, Okla. — As inflation continues to affect Oklahomans, OG&E customers are no different — with four price increases in the last seven months.
OG&E staff say global factors have increased the price of natural gas, even tripled in some areas. It’s why for many customers it's hurting their wallets.
“We are hurting," said Marti Platt, an OG&E customer. "We are hurting bad.”
“If I can barely make it, I couldn’t even begin to imagine other people’s situations, said Yvette Rodriguez, another OG&E customer.
Platt and Rodriguez are struggling to keep up with the payments. They both received an email from OG&E on Tuesday, Jan. 17, saying effective Jan. 1, they’d see an increase to the fuel charge on their bills of 4.8 %, about $5.46 a month.
"There’s nothing we can do," Platt said. "Have you ever seen the movie 'A Bug's Life'? We are the ants, they are the grasshoppers.”
Prior to 2023, Platt showed 2 News Oklahoma three other emails stating her bill would go up due to fuel charges. Rodriguez says her bill went from $80 in November to upwards of $500 this month.
2 News got in touch with OG&E’s Corporate Communications Manager Aaron Cooper to answer that, and more.
“We’re hopeful that natural gas prices will moderate for the rest of this year, and if they do, we’ll be able to adjust the same fuel calculation to customers," Cooper said.
Cooper says about 90% of customers’ bill increases are directly related to price increases in natural gas.
“We actually undercharged customers for the fuel that we use to generate power," Cooper said. "So we’ve adjusted the fuel calculation to help recover the costs of the fuel that we already purchased and used.”
OG&E isn’t alone. Oklahoma Natural Gas (ONG) also had price hikes — three in 2022 due to gas prices, and to help pay back costs from the 2021 winter storm.
“We’ve made some changes to our fuel purchasing and increased our storage capacity so we can some lock in some fuel storage at lower prices," Cooper said.
For customers like Rodriguez and Platt, that hopeful future can’t come quickly enough.
"I thought since gas prices were going down, everything was going to be OK. But no, it’s only getting worse," Platt said.
OG&E staff say they're aware of the financial strains these increases may have on customers, so they have set up some payment programs for customers in need. You can find all that information here.
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