Electric bills doubled, even tripled

By Mary Joseph, NEWS 9

Many OG&E customers said their bill has doubled or even tripled from the month before.  OG&E said the reason goes back to the ice storm.

Officials from OG&E said during the ice storm last month, the company could not send out workers to check meters.  Instead, it estimated customer bills based for about 300,000 customers.  Most of those customers were in the metro area.

"What we are finding is in many instances, those bills were estimated at a rate that was lower than our customer's actual usage," said OG&E Spokesperson Gil Broyles.

As a result, OG&E added the difference from the December bills onto the January bills.

That was the case for Bobbie Warnock when she received her bill this month. During the last billing cycle, she paid $107.50 for electricity, but this month's bill was $335.68.

"Three times what it was the month before is really really high; I just can't fork out $335," Warnock said.

OG&E said for customers who cannot afford to pay their bill upfront, contact customer service about a plan that can spread the payment out over several months.