What It Takes: OG&E Crews Restore Power In Dangerous Conditions

OG&E restored power to 80,000 customers within 48 hours of last weekend’s storms, a spokesperson told News 9 on Monday. 

“After an event, we have to go out and assess the damage. That's the first step,” said Dallas Rowley, Incident Commander in Storm Restoration for OG&E. “We have to see what’s wrong out there.” 

Once OG&E finished the assessments, “Then we start restoring power and start building the infrastructure back,” Rowley added.

OG&E said its crews work around the clock to restore power to its customers. 

“We've got around 1000 resources in any given event,” Rowley said, referring to the company’s employees. “A standard crew for a line crew is typically four linemen and a foreman.” 

Sometimes, OG&E may need more or less help than that, Rowley explained. 

"It depends on the situation. Every situation, every storm, every piece of damage is different. So, we have to just look at it, assess it, and then we figure out what the perfect solution is for getting the power restored.” 

When a structure is beyond repair...

“We have to ‘wreck the damage out’ and remove it. That's the first step, and then once we get it removed, we bring new poles in,” he said. 

OG&E warned people to stay away from downed power lines and any puddles near them, as they might be electrically charged.