'You deserve better:' PSO explains recurring power outages to Jenks City Council, provides potential solutions

People in Jenks were satisfied on Tuesday after the Public Service Company of Oklahoma gave a presentation to the city council about recent power outages and ways to fix them.

How many power outages have there been in Jenks?

PSO says there have been six power outages between November and December.

The electric company says power outages have lasted from a few minutes to just under five hours. 

“We understand that it’s not only an inconvenience for you but you deserve better, you deserve for your power to be on," said Dwayne Apple with PSO.

Why did PSO come to a Jenks City Council meeting?

City Council invited PSO to give a presentation explaining why the outages were happening, and what solutions they've created to fix the problem.

“It’s not just enough to know here’s the problem. Is there hope that it’s going to get fixed? Because the weather today what it’s brutally cold and people don’t want to spend hours without heat," said Jenks Mayor, Cory Box.

Why are the outages happening?

PSO says there are several reasons including squirrels, foil balloons, and technology failures. 

What is PSO doing to minimize power outages from happening?

PSO says they're making upgrades at the Jenks Substation, and relying more on computers and less on metal gears.

“We’re putting that type of protection in that substation there in Jenks, part of it had been upgraded, part of it hadn’t been, that was some of the miscoordination that we saw in November that we were able to identify and fix," said Ashley Nolte with PSO.

PSO says they are also replacing two transformers at a substation on 116th and Peoria which will be completed in April. 

The electric company says they have also added equipment to more than 30 power poles to keep animals from interfering with electricity.