OKLAHOMA CITY – Customer retention programs to be administered by Arkansas Oklahoma Gas Corp. for the next three years were approved unanimously by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission on Feb. 15.
The three retention programs are service line replacement, residential weatherization improvements and rebates for energy- efficient equipment in homes and businesses.
The company’s budget for the trio of programs is $204,677 per year, or $614,031 over the threeyear period of 2024-26. That figure is almost $76,000 less than the budget the company initially proposed, “because AOG was able to renegotiate its contract with its third-party implementer to reduce delivery costs,” the settlement agreement explains.
Consequently, the financial impact on the utility bill for an “average” AOG residential customer will be $1.595 per month, 20.5 cents less than what the company first proposed.
McKlein Aguirre, a coordinator in the commission’s Public Utility Division, testified that all three of AOG’s customer retention programs benefit the utility’s ratepayers, and that the PUD believes the costs are reasonable.
AOG conducts exit interviews with customers who ask to permanently disconnect their natural gas service, said William Scott Gentry, manager of energy efficiency for the company.
“During these interviews the company attempts to negotiate a resolution to prevent the customer from leaving the system,” Gentry said. However, if disconnection is “unavoidable,” the company collects data “in an effort to determine what factors contributed to” the customer’s decision, he said.
Data collected to date suggest three primary causes of disconnections, Gentry said:
• Repair costs associated with service line replacement; • High energy bills attributed to energy inefficient homes;
• Minimal usage of appliances fueled with natural gas.
Customer Retention Programs
Consequently, AOG offers three programs that address those issues.
The company may replace a service line owned by a customer if the line leaks because of deterioration or damage; afterward the line is owned, operated and maintained by the company. AOG also may move the meter from the property line to the house.
AOG will provide rebates to residential and small business customers who install high-efficiency natural gas furnaces, natural gas water heaters, and smart thermostats in new and existing homes and businesses.
The weatherization program targets “severely energy inefficient” homes in order to “improve comfort and reduce energy costs,” Gentry said.
Improvements provided at no cost to participants may include attic insulation, duct sealing/repair, window sealing/caulking, low-flow showerheads, faucet aerators, carbon monoxide detectors, and smoke alarms.
To qualify for the weatherization program, the customer must be a homeowner, renter, or tenant of a single-family home or duplex that is at least 10 years of age. Customers who meet those criteria receive a free home energy audit that will determine whether the residence qualifies for weatherization measures.
This was AOG’s fourth consecutive three-year customer retention program endorsed by the Corporation Commission since late 2014.
Cities that are served by AOG, Summit Utilities
Arkansas Oklahoma Gas Corp. supplies natural gas to approximately 60,000 residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural customers in Arkansas and Oklahoma. Towns served in Oklahoma include Fanshawe, Red Oak, Poteau, Sallisaw, Spiro, Muldrow, Heavener and West Siloam Springs.
AOG is based in Fort Smith, Arkansas, in the heart of the Arkoma Basin, an area “rich” in natural gas production. “That gives us the ability to access and transport natural gas produced from local wells,” the company states. “These local supplies, in combination with our ability to obtain natural gas from interstate pipelines, enable us to provide reliable natural gas service to all our customers.”
In 2017, AOG joined a larger group of natural gas utilities when it combined with Summit Utilities, Inc. “This brings added expertise to the team, as well as additional financial resources for ongoing growth and investments to protect the integrity and safety of AOG’s natural gas system.”
Oklahoma cities served by Summit Utilities include Lawton, Elgin, Fletcher, Sterling, Cache, Geronimo, Altus, Apache, Blair, Burns Flat, Chickasha, Comanche, Duke, Duncan, Mangum, Marlow, Martha, Olustee and Temple.
They also include Cushing, Ada, Arapaho, Blackwell, Canton, Cheyenne, Cromwell, Deer Creek, Earlsboro, Fairview, Garber, Hartshorne, Hominy, Mangum, McAlester, Medford, Nardin, Okeene, Seminole, Stringtown, Talihina, Tonkawa, Vance Air Force Base, Watonga, Weatherford, Wilburton and Wynona.